


Intermediate roommate situation.

by Morganatique9



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: A little tiny bit angsty at some point, AU, Alternate Universe - New Girl Fusion, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Comedy, Drunken Shenanigans, F/M, Flatshare, Fluff, Friendship, Humor, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Fluff, Roommates, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:27:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 71,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26182657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morganatique9/pseuds/Morganatique9
Summary: Annie is tired of living above Dildopolis and decides to look for a new place. She finds this odd but yet appealing ad from this group of people looking for a new roommate in their apartment. She meets them and little does she know, her world is about to be turned upside down.
Relationships: Annie Edison/Jeff Winger
Comments: 318
Kudos: 213





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm already back!!
> 
> So, this is an idea I got that I was pretty much excited about. It's largely inspired by New Girl but this won't be a crossover, it sets solely with Community's characters.
> 
> Thanks a lot to Readymcreaderson and jeffwing for helping me brainstorm this one out <3 And for the other people in the Discord channel for supporting me, as always.
> 
> To make a quick backstory, this is an AU in which only Annie went to Greendale community college and she hasn't met the others. It sets when Annie graduates and gets a job in forensics in Denver. The other characters' backgrounds will be detailed later on in the fic :)
> 
> Hope you'll enjoy this new story, don't hesitate to leave kudos or comments!

The loud ‘bang’ Annie Edison hears at 3 A.M. along with the music blasting from the speakers outside are the turning point in her decision to finally look for another place to live.

Enraged, she takes her sleep mask off and gets out of bed angrily. She walks to her computer, turns it on and looks up ads about places to rent.

As she could expect it, everything is astoundingly expensive. She just graduated from college and started a new job, she still couldn’t afford something great. _It’ll only be a matter of months_ , she thinks to herself to reassure her. Then, things will finally turn out for the best.

Until then, Annie assumes she needs to lower her standards. She studies the internet page in front of her eyes and decides to tick the “flat-share” box. Suddenly, a lot more ads pop up on her screen. Grinning satisfyingly, she slowly scrolls down, looking at some apartments shared with other people while the music coming from Dildopolis doesn’t tune down.

After looking disappointingly at a few ads, there is one that catches Annie’s eye. Uncertain but curious, Annie clicks on it and reads it.

_We’re 3 very nice human-beings (genders aren’t important here) and our last roommate just left our apartment, so there is another room available now and let’s be honest, we’d be delighted to welcome you with us but we also desperately need someone to pay their part of the rent because neither of us can afford it right now._

_We are nice, friendly, and you’ll never get bored with us! (I hope you can hold your liquor because we like to play our drinking games here) (Or not, I’m not sure it’s something you can put up on a roommate-search ad)_

_Our apartment is big enough so we won’t invade each other’s spaces, but we do share a kitchen and a living-room. You’ll have your own bedroom, obviously. There are two bathrooms so you’ll have to share one with someone from here (again, still not gendered, you can share with whoever you want, as long as you’re not being creepy and awkward about it)_

_If you’re interested, please, call the number below so we can talk about details like utility bills and also schedule a tour of the apartment for you._

_Don’t be shy, I swear, you’re not going to regret it!_

Annie frowns all the way through her reading. This ad is… certainly unusual. She checks the date it’s been posted: just a few hours ago. Maybe she has her shot, after all, it’s the middle of the night, it’s not like there are a lot of people looking for another place to live at three in the morning. Right?

Without considering how late it is, Annie immediately texts the number below the ad to say that she is interested and would like to visit the apartment. Perfectly aware that she probably won’t have an answer until the next morning, she goes back to bed and falls asleep a few minutes later, now hopeful that her living situation will improve soon enough.

***

The next morning, Annie wakes up and the first thing she does is checking her phone. She squeals happily when she sees that she has an unread text. She opens it and sees it is from the number she texted last night about the apartment. The person tells her that she can come around noon. Annie answers right away to confirm and immediately jumps out of bed to get in the shower. After that, she puts her favorite dress on, a blue cardigan, a pair of shoes and grabs her bag before storming out of her apartment and getting on a bus to Denver.

Annie wished she hadn’t sold her car a few years ago to make some extra money. Taking the bus to Denver could be annoying because it’s a slow ride. However, she has a good feeling about this apartment she is going to see and it keeps her motivated.

Once she arrives in front of the building, Annie stands in front of the entrance, doubtful. She hasn’t even thought about double-checking the number and the address. What if it is not a legit rent ad and she is about to walk into a serial killer’s lair? Annie shakes her head to chase the thought away. She has watched too many episodes of _Criminal Minds_ before interviewing for her job, it has really stuck with her.

She exhales sharply and rings the intercom at the name PERRY-NADIR. Just a few seconds later, Annie hears someone pick up and some voices in the background. Some voices that sound like they are arguing.

“Um… Hello?” Annie asks shyly.

“Sorry, hi, is it Miss Edison?” A woman responds.

“Speaking.” Annie says.

“Right, I’ll buzz you in, third floor, on your left, the apartment is at the end of the hallway.”

Annie doesn’t get a chance to thank the woman because she already hangs up before the words can come out of Annie’s mouth. Dumbfounded, Annie hears a robotic voice from the front door telling her she can come in, therefore, she adjusts her bag on her shoulder and opens the door before going to the elevator. She is about to call it when she sees a note on the elevator’s doors on which a single word is written: “BROKEN”.

“Great.” Annie mutters.

Then, she goes to the stairs and walks them up until the third floor. She immediately goes on her left to the end of the hallway, to the apartment number 303. After taking a breath, she knocks firmly on the door and waits. She hears muffed steps and whispers behind the door. What has she gotten into?

Only a few seconds later, the door opens and Annie is welcomed by two unnaturally widened smiles.

“Hi!!” The two persons in front of Annie exclaim.

“Hi!” Annie says back, uncomfortable.

“So glad you could make it, come on in!”

Annie nods and takes a step into the apartment, looking all around her. She instantly feels soothed – the apartment looks big, there are two huge windows giving the room an excellent lighting and Annie notices the several plants decorating both the walls and the counters. There is some tiny bookshelves and a corner of the living-room with a couch and a plasma screen. It smells like coffee and tea at the same time, and Annie doesn’t know how to explain it but all of that combined gives her a positive feeling. It is almost like she is feeling… at home?

“So nice to meet you Annie, can I call you Annie? Do you want anything, water, coffee, whisky? Well, probably not whisky, it’s only noon but you know, anything that you’d like.”

“I’m good, thanks. And feel free to call me Annie, of course. I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name, I don’t think we’ve talked about it on the phone…”

“Oh right, sorry. I’m Britta.”

Annie immediately shakes Britta’s hand and the two women smile at each other. Annie quickly studies the blonde girl in front of her – she looks nervous, at least, that’s already something they have in common.

“Nice to meet you, Britta.” Annie tells her after they stop their handshake.

“Likewise.” Britta retorts with a smile. “Oh and this is Abed, one of my roommates.”

“Hey, nice to meet you.” Abed says.

Annie smiles to Abed, even though she notices he doesn’t look very interested by their conversation. She can feel that he is here because he has to and probably wishes he would be somewhere else at the moment.

“We have another roommate but he’s currently job-hunting so he couldn’t be here for the tour, apologies on his behalf.” Britta explains to Annie.

“It’s fine, I understand.” Annie nods.

“Okay, well, let us show you our little haven, then.” Britta exclaims joyfully.

Annie follows Britta and Abed through the apartment. Britta does much of the talking, Abed sometimes approves or nods silently. They go through the living-room and the kitchen, both in the same room, then they show Annie her potential future bedroom and bathroom. They get a quick tour of the other rooms and after only ten minutes, they are back where they were standing when Annie arrived.

“So that’s pretty much it.” Britta says in conclusion. “We usually divide the utility bills, just like the rent, so it’s like fifty dollars each, depending on when the heater’s on and everything. There's a storage downstairs if you need it, though we’ve already filled most of it with our stuff. And I think I’ve said it all. Do you think of something I happened to forget, Abed?”

“Don’t think so.” Abed says plainly. “Just so you know, I’m a movie director, so there are probably going to be some shootings here when studios aren’t available.” He adds while looking at Annie.

“But don’t worry though, it doesn’t happen that often. Right, Abed?” Britta interjects between clenched teeth.

“Sure.” Abed shrugs before looking at his phone.

Annie stares at them, confused. They have a weird dynamic and she doesn’t know what it would look like on the long run. But also, the rent is cheap and she really needs to move out as soon as she possible, she doesn’t have the luxury of being demanding.

“So, what do you say, Annie?” Britta then asks her, as if she can read her mind.

“W – well… When do you think you can let me know?” Annie asks Britta, taking her notebook and her pen out of her bag.

“Let you know what? If you’re in, you can already sign the lease and move in this weekend.”

“Wh – really?”

Annie widens her eyes at Britta, completely awe-struck. Usually, the waitlists to get an apartment are ridiculously long and you have to wait at least one week to know if your application has been accepted. Therefore, Britta’s suggestion leaves Annie speechless.

“Don’t you have… other people coming over to see the place?” Annie then asks, curious.

“Um… Actually, no. You’re the only one who reached out.” Britta tells her, pursing her lips.

“Told you. The ad was too weird, it scared people away.” Abed says to Britta.

“It wasn’t weird, it was just… unique.” Britta contradicts, not sure of herself. “I didn’t want to make a stern and cold description, it needed to be authentic and to represent us. I’m saying if Annie’s the only one who was interested, then she should also be the one to get into the lease.”

“Don’t we have to ask the landlord’s opinion first?” Abed points out, frowning.

“Pff, you really think Pierce cares? He just wants someone to pay the rent, he doesn’t need to do a background check.” Britta chortles. “Annie, you’ve got a job right?”

“I do, yes.” Annie answers right away.

“Then it’s settled. I vote we take Annie in as our new roommate.” Britta says solemnly.

“Britta, off-screen conversation.” Abed says before moving to the kitchen.

Britta winces at Annie in an attempt of an excuse, she assumes, before following Abed to the kitchen. Annie can’t hear what they are talking about, even though she can catch some words and put them together. Apparently, Abed is saying something about letting their other roommate deciding with them too. The opinion of this person seems important to him. After what feels like an eternity, they finally come back to Annie with an official look. Annie swallows hardly, nervous.

“Okay, if you want to, we’d be happy to welcome you as our new roommate, Annie.” Britta announces with a smile.

Annie squeals happily and can’t help but hug Britta, even though she has known her for a total of fifteen minutes. Britta awkwardly hugs her back, barely touching her, before Annie parts, smiling widely.

“Thank you, this is such a relief for me, I really needed to find a new place.” Annie tells them, sighing happily.

“Where do you live, if you don’t mind me asking?” Britta then asks.

“Above Dildopolis.” Annie says with a grimace.

“Eww, sweetie, okay, I totally understand now.” Britta says empathetically. “You know what, you don’t have to wait until this weekend, move in as soon as you want. If you need, we can even come and help you pack and move your stuff.”

“It’s okay Britta, thanks, I’ll ask my friends, I’m embarrassed to ask you this when we barely even know each other.”

“Well, in case you need some extra hands, don’t hesitate to give me a call.”

Annie nods and smiles, excited. It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off her shoulders.

“Alright, I have an appointment at the bank this afternoon, I need to get going.” Annie then says while looking at her watch.

“Oh sure, let me walk you to the door.”

Britta walks with Annie to open the front door and letting her walk out of the apartment. Annie looks at her and sighs, delighted.

“Thank you so much Britta, I’m excited to live here.” Annie tells her genuinely.

“We’re excited to have you too, you look really sweet!” Britta exclaims, smiling. “I’m sure Abed’s excited too, he’s just not very good at showing human emotions, you know.”

“It’s okay, I hope we’ll all get along. That’s the dream with roommates.” Annie chuckles. “But you both look really nice.”

“Wait until you meet Jeff, our other roommate. He’s a funny one too.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the feedback on the first chapter guys, I'm really glad you like this story already!  
> For now, I'm slowly setting the story up but I can't wait to get to the shenanigans hehe.  
> Hope you'll like this chapter!!
> 
> (Thanks to the people on the Community Discord #fan-fic channel for their endless support, these guys are the best)

That night, Annie goes to bed with a huge smile on her face, feeling like a huge weight has been lifted off her shoulders. She has already called her current landlord to terminate her lease and even though he didn’t sound too happy about it, he eventually agreed and made an exception for her to leave on a week notice rather than a month notice. Afterwards, Annie has called a couple of her friends from community college – they are more like classmates when she comes to think of it but she needs the help to pack and move her belongings, so it will do. They agreed to come to her place on Friday, this way, she could move into her new apartment by Friday evening.

The week goes by in a blink of an eye and by Thursday evening, Annie is both excited to begin a new life and anxious. What if she is making the wrong choice? What if it doesn’t go well with her soon-to-be roommates and she quickly regrets leaving her previous apartment?

Annie does not want to have negative thoughts when her decision is already made, anyway. Therefore, she goes to sleep and sets an alarm for the next day to finish her packing.

By 9 A.M. on Friday, a couple of her classmates for Greendale community college are in her apartment, helping her packing boxes and putting them into the van she rented for the day. It takes most of the morning and after a lunch break, most of the afternoon before every single box is finally in the van and the apartment is empty. Before exiting for good, Annie takes a last look at it and sighs nostalgically. Despite her want to have a new beginning somewhere else, leaving the apartment she lived in during her college years certainly feels like saying goodbye forever to an old friend. She smiles before turning off the lights and closing the door for the last time.

She thanks her classmates and once they leave, Annie gets into the driver seat of the van and starts driving to Denver. When she arrives in front of the building of her new home, she gives a call to Britta to let her know she is here and could use a hand with all of her boxes. Annie only waits a full two minutes before she sees her new roommate coming to her rescue with Abed and another guy that looks very familiar to her. It doesn’t take much time for her to figure out from where she knows him.

“Troy?” Annie exclaims, surprised.

Upon hearing his name, Troy looks at her, frowning.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” Troy asks, apparently confused.

“Y – yeah, we went to the same high school, actually.” Annie tells him, suddenly nervous. “I’m Annie. Annie Edison.”

“Annie, Annie, Annie…” Troy mumbles, reflective. “Of course, right! You’re little Annie Adderall!”

Annie stiffens at that nickname and watches Britta and Abed’s reactions in horror. There is a better way to get to know your roommates than them finding out you used to have a pills addiction back in high school.

“Man, I didn’t recognize you, you’ve changed!” Troy continues, oblivious to the discomfort he created. “You look… better.”

“Thanks. I hit a rough path back in high school but I went to rehab and got better.” Annie explains proudly.

“Good for you.” Troy says, smiling.

“Look, I’m… I’m sorry if it makes you uncomfortable, it’s not the kind of things that you tell people when you first introduce yourself.” Annie tells Britta and Abed, dreading their reaction to this reveal.

“Look, we all have things from our past we’re not proud of.” Britta tells her gently. “You obviously seem like you’re doing fine today so knowing that you went through dark stuff, that’s even more impressive. We’re never going to judge you, Annie.”

Annie stares at Britta, incredulous. When she looks at Abed, he nods and doesn’t seem bothered by the revelation either. Annie feels instant relief – they are not going to kick her out because they found out she used to be an addict. Either they are really open-minded people or they are seriously weird…

“So _you_ ’re the new roommate?” Troy then asks Annie.

“I am.” Annie answers with a smile. “Wait, what are you doing here?”

“Oh I’m friends with Abed.” Troy explains, sharing an oddly meticulous handshake with Abed. “We’ve met at our community college a few years ago.”

“Oh where did you go to?” Annie asks, curious.

“Community college of Denver.” Abed answers.

“Nice! I went to Greendale, I just graduated and became a forensics researcher.”

“Wow, congrats, that sounds awesome!” Troy exclaims.

“Cool, if I’m ever doing a _Law & Order_ inspired plot, I’ll reach out to you. You’re valuable.” Abed tells Annie, vaguely smiling.

“Um… Thanks, I guess?” Annie says in a high-pitched voice, thrown off by Abed’s comment.

“Anyway, Britta called me, said the new roomie could use the help moving in.” Troy then explains briefly.

“Aww, thanks Britta, I really appreciate it.” Annie coos, quickly hugging Britta.

“Of course, we’re a family here!” Britta ensures with a smile. “Alright, let’s take all of your stuff upstairs!”

Everyone then participates and grabs a box each to take all of Annie’s stuff into her new bedroom. They have to make a couple of round trips to be able to get all of the boxes in. Fifteen minutes later, everything is in Annie’s bedroom and they all sit down in the living-room, drinking a glass of water to hydrate from all of the steps they went up and down repeatedly.

“You sure have a lot of stuff for someone living in a studio.” Britta points out, out of breath.

“Yeah… And I had to sell some of my furniture, I couldn’t bring everything with me.” Annie explains before taking a sip of water.

“Lucky for you, your new room already has all it needs.” Britta retorts.

“Hey wasn’t Jeff supposed to be here like an hour ago?” Troy then asks Britta.

“Ugh he was but I can tell without giving it too much thought that he delayed his arrival to get out of moving-in duty.” Britta answers plainly, rolling her eyes.

“Classic Jeff.” Abed shrugs.

“He should be here any minute, though.” Britta asserts, looking at the time on her phone. “We said we were going to have a little housewarming party for your arrival, Annie. Nothing too eccentric, don’t worry, just some new roommates having a drink and getting to know each other. What do you think?”

“Ooh that sounds fun!” Annie squeals, smiling widely. “I can make some cocktails, if you guys want. Do you like Appletinis?”

“That’s okay, Britta used to be a bartender in her backstory, she’s usually the one in charge of the cocktails.” Abed retorts, which makes Annie pout disappointingly.

“But, you know, we could make them together, if you’d like.” Britta adds, glaring quickly at Abed.

“I’m just going to get a shower first, it’s been a long day.” Annie says before excusing herself and getting up.

“Sure, you can use the bathroom in front of your bedroom.” Britta tells her while showing her the direction.

Annie nods and makes an awkward smile before walking to her room and closing the door behind her. Once she is alone, she lets out a deep breath and swallows hardly. This new life she is about to begin will probably need some time and adjustement before she can feel perfectly comfortable with it.

Annie searches in the mountain of boxes invading her room before finding a towel and comfy clothes to wear for the night. Afterwards, she goes straight to the bathroom, takes off her clothes, hops in the shower and enjoys the warm water running on her skin. Her muscles are sore fom all the packing and moving. After she is done, she dries herself, puts some sweatpants and a hoodie provided by her new workplace on and exits the bathroom to put her old clothes in her bedroom and meet back with the others in the living-room.

While she walks over there, she can feel like the mood has lightened up. They have put some music on as Annie hears laughter in the background. She also believes she hears another voice she hasn’t heard yet so far…

When she makes her entrance in the living-room, she quickly analyzes what is going on in front of her. Troy and Abed are standing in the middle of the living-room, apparently arguing about which character is the best on the TV show _Mr Robot_. Britta is in the kitchen at the other end of the room, making cocktails behind the counter. She is talking with a ridiculously tall man that Annie hasn’t seen before. _Probably the other roommate_ , she thinks to herself.

Still not very comfortable with the appropriation of her new surroundings, Annie stealthily walks towards the kitchen in order to introduce herself to her new roommate. She passes by Abed and Troy, who barely notice her. Once she is Britta’s sight, the latter waves at her to come over.

“Hey Annie, come here, you need to meet Jeff!” Britta says joyfully.

Annie complies and gets closer to Britta and the tall guy. Once she is next to Britta, she can get a better look at him and when she meets his eyes, she feels like her breath has been taken away from her without any sort of warning.

“Annie, this is Jeff, Jeff, this is Annie, our new roommate.” Britta tells both of them, pointing at each one at the appropriate time.

Annie is not able to look away from the intensely hypnotizing blue eyes in front of her. Weirdly enough, she can feel like the feeling is mutual. Neither Annie nor this Jeff guy are able to look away from each other. Annie is brutally enthralled.

She was not particularly expecting anything but she certainly did not expect her so far unknown roommate to be this handsome.

“Hello?? Earth to Annie and Jeff?” Britta exclaims, snapping her fingers in front of them.

The eye-contact is irrevocably broken and just like this, Annie no longer has the impression that she is walking on thin air. All of a sudden, the room is loud around her, she remembers there are more than just two people in here. For a few seconds, it felt like her world had been turned upside down.

“Have you both forgotten how to speak?” Britta taunts them.

“Britta, are you ever going to stop being so annoying?” The tall guy says to her annoyingly.

“Nope.” Britta retorts, popping on the ‘p’ to emphasize it.

“I’m sorry, um… I’m Annie.” Annie says, extending her hand in front of her.

“I’m Jeff.” Jeff responds while shaking Annie’s hand.

Their hands are touching for no more than two seconds but the feeling of Jeff’s skin brushing hers gives Annie shivers. She quietly clears her throat to compose herself and manages to put on a smile to hide the fact that she is utterly destabilized. She hasn’t felt this way in a long time and she doesn’t like it.

“So, now you’ve met everyone, Annie.” Britta points out gleefully. “Except for our landlord but the longer it takes for you to meet him, the better you’ll be.”

“Come on Britta, don’t scare the new housemate, Pierce isn’t all that bad.” Jeff retorts.

“I never said he was. Just that Annie doesn’t necessarily need to meet him.” Britta rectifies, pouring some blue liquid in a cocktail shaker.

“Right. So Annie, welcome to the crazy-town apartment.” Jeff says while laying eyes on her.

“Thanks. And thank you all for welcoming me, I’m really looking forward to our roomies experience.” Annie tells them with a wide smile.

“Likewise.”

Annie can’t help but blush at Jeff’s comment. It is not really the comment itself that gets to her, but more the tone Jeff used and the way he is looking at her right now. She should follow up but she has probably known the guy for no more than one minute and he already has a dizzying effect on her.

“That’s not what you were saying earlier today when you made up a silly excuse to be away when Annie got here with all of her stuff.” Britta tells Jeff in a snarky comment.

“It wasn’t a silly excuse, I truly had an appointment at the barber’s shop.” Jeff revolts, visibly offended.

“Did you, though? Your messy hair looks the same to me.” Britta teases him.

Annie observes Britta and Jeff bickering without knowing what to say or what to do. She notices the way they shove or nudge each other and quickly understands these two must be close. Or used to be. They don’t look like a couple, but they do look like a couple that got divorced and argue about who gets to keep the coffee machine.

“So what do you prefer Annie, Blue Hawaiian or Blue Hawaiian? That’s honestly the only cocktail I really master and I don’t want to scare you away by making you a disgusting beverage.” Britta tells Annie, chuckling at the end of her sentence.

“Ooh I don’t know, I guess… Blue Hawaiian seems fine.” Annie jokes, which makes Britta smile.

“I’m not taking any chances, I’ll stick to Scotch.” Jeff points out before looking through a cupboard next to the fridge.

“And yet, I am the buzzkill.” Britta says before sticking her tongue out to Jeff.

“Hey guys, do you want to play a drinking game?” Troy suddenly suggests.

“I’m not drinking so I’ll supervise it.” Abed ads.

“Maybe Annie’s first night in the apartment is a bit early for our drinking games, Troy.” Britta winces.

“Oh. Yeah you’re right…” Troy admits, visibly disappointed.

“However, we can still get to know each other and talk about us while drinking a good cocktail, though!" Britta exclaims before pouring glasses of Blue Hawaiian.

Everyone nods and as Troy and Abed join them in the kitchen, Annie takes the occasion to look yet another time at Jeff. When she lays eyes on him, she notices he is also looking at her, which makes her heart skip a beat.

 _Uh-oh_ , Annie thinks.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there, new chapter!!  
> Thanks for the positive feedback, I'm glad you're enjoying this story so far :)
> 
> (As usual, a huge thanks to the Community Discord #fan-fic channel for supporting and encouraging me, especially these days. You guys truly are the best <3)

Annie’s first evening in her new apartment with her new roommates went as perfectly as possible. Sure, her roommates are… unconventional, if she can put it like that. There are lots of bickering, surprising private jokes and weird movie references to compare to their actual life. But much to her surprise, Annie already feels like she is going to get used to it. Because overall, they make her laugh and they accept her for who she is already, and most of all, she doesn’t feel lonely anymore. And it is all she could ask for.

The evening ends on a funny note and as Troy starts yawning, they all decide to call the evening off. After saying goodbye to Troy, they all start cleaning the kitchen up and everyone goes to their room afterwards. Annie has a heavy heart since she is nervous to spend her first night in her new “home”. She is not fully accustomed to her new life after all.

Annie changes her current clothes to put some pajamas on. She ties her hair into a bun and goes straight to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Her vanity is still on a stool but she will unpack it during the weekend as the rest of her stuff.

As she grabs her toothbrush and puts some toothpaste on it, she looks up in the mirror and sees someone coming in the bathroom. Annie uncontrollably blushes when she notices who it is.

“Oh, hi there.”

“Hi.” Annie manages to say, her voice shaking.

She tries to stay focused on her teeth brushing as Jeff stands next to her, grabbing his toothpaste to proceed into the same night routine as her. She prays that the lighting in the room hides the fact that her cheeks are burning red.

“It appears we share a bathroom then.” Jeff points out as he wets his toothbrush. “I assumed maybe Britta would switch with me so that you’d have a girls bathroom or something.”

“If you’d rather share the bathroom with Abed, I can ask him to switch. I just arrived so I don’t mind.” Annie says, trying to sound casual.

“Oh I don’t mind either. The opposite, actually.”

Annie clears her throat way too exaggeratedly and is suddenly glad she has to brush her teeth to avoid speaking. _Is this Jeff guy flirting with me?_ Annie thinks to herself. She quietly glances at him as he starts brushing his teeth as well.

Annie hasn’t missed the quick glances at the dinner table. She hasn’t missed the teasing smirks, the lingering looks. They haven’t talked much, or rather they have talked but in group discussions. The two of them haven’t shared an actual conversation and yet, the eye contacts seem to have spoken for themselves. Annie doesn’t know what is going on but she knows that physical proximity with Jeff is playing with her self-control.

After two minutes, she washes her mouth and spits in the sink. As she unties her hair before going to bed, Jeff mimics her and suddenly, she has no excuse to avoid a conversation with this roommate that has an unsettling effect on her.

“So how do you feel about your new place?” Jeff asks her, turning on his side to face her.

“Um… It feels both relieving and… scary.” Annie answers truthfully.

“I get that. Moving into a flat share is… an interesting experience.” Jeff says, pursing his lips. “I would never have thought I’d have roommates at this stage of my life. But oddly enough, you get used to it.”

“If you don’t mind me asking… How did you get here?” Annie asks shyly.

“I suggest we have this conversation over coffee tomorrow morning. What do you say?”

“Oh, um, sure, I thought maybe Britta and Abed would feel left out of the conversation since they probably already know b –“

“Oh but don’t worry about them, Britta has an appointment at the vet for her cat and Abed has an early shooting tomorrow morning. It’ll be just the two of us.”

Annie nods but at the same time, she swallows hardly. She mentally slaps herself for feeling the way she feels at the moment.

“Um… Alright, we’ll talk about it tomorrow then.” Annie manages to say in an unnatural high-pitched voice.

“Great. It’s a coffee date then.” Jeff says, smiling widely.

Annie doesn’t pick up on that and simply nods, trying to ignore the way her stomach flutters at the sight of Jeff’s smile.

“Alright, you probably had a long day with the moving-in and all, hope you’ll have a good first night.” Jeff eventually says.

“Yeah, it was kind of a long day. Yeah, so, um… Good night, Jeff.”

“Good night to you too, Annie.”

Annie licks her lower lip, annoyingly shaken by the sound of her name in Jeff’s mouth. She awkwardly waves goodbye and rushes out of the bathroom to lock herself into her room. She almost stumbles on her many boxes still on the floor as she makes her way to her bed, throwing herself into it and shoving her head into her pillow. She feels like a complete idiot. She is behaving like a silly teenager with this guy and she hates it! She is twenty-four years old for God’s sake, she is a mature young woman, how could she act so dumb over an insanely attractive man?

Annie tosses and turns in bed for a good hour before finally closing her eyes. She has this weird feeling, like she is homesick. She is confused, because obviously, her apartment above Dildopolis never actually felt like home. For most of her life, her parents’ house didn’t feel like home either. Therefore, why would she feel homesick in the first place? Maybe she is homesick about the fact that no place ever actually felt like home to her. On that rather revealing sad note, Annie then falls asleep.

***

The next day, Annie wakes up early. The sun is barely up. Instead of falling back asleep and waking up in the late morning, something she hates doing, she gets out of bed and still in her pajamas, starts to unpack some of her boxes. Around 9 A.M., the sound of her stomach growling urges her to have breakfast. She goes out of her bedroom and runs into Britta in the hallway.

“Oh hi!” Annie greets her joyfully.

“Hi, good morning!” Britta answers with a smile.

Annie immediately looks at the cat Britta is currently hugging in her arms and a smile tugs at the corner of her lips.

“Aww, who’s this little cutie?” Annie squeals, getting closer to pat the cat.

“Meet Mister Doodle.” Britta says in a chirping voice. “He was in my bedroom the whole time yesterday because he doesn’t feel well.”

“Oh yeah, Jeff told me you were taking your cat to the vet last night, hope it isn’t anything serious.” Annie tells Britta.

“Oh you had a chit-chat with Jeff?” Britta asks Annie, sounding surprised.

“Yeah we ran into each other in the bathroom before going to bed.” Annie answers casually.

“Right. Um… Okay, I need to get going but when I come back, what do you think about ordering in and helping you unpack all of these boxes?”

“That would be great, thanks Britta!”

“Of course. Well, see you later.”

Britta smiles and waves at Annie before going back to her room. Annie watches her walking away, frowning. When Annie mentioned Jeff, Britta seemed… concerned. Were Annie’s instincts about Britta and Jeff looking close accurate? They certainly don’t look like a couple but what does she know? She has only been here less than twenty-four hours. Apparently, there are lots of things she needs to figure out in this roommate’s life.

Annie then walks to the living-room, ready to make herself some tea. She walks into the delicious smell of coffee, pancakes and bacon. Her stomach roars even more. As she goes to the kitchen side, she sees Jeff in front of the cooking plates, breaking eggs into a frying pan. Some quiet rock music comes from a speaker on the counter, next to a phone armband and earphones.

“Alright, I’m heading out, see you later guys!” Britta then yells from behind.

Annie turns around to watch Britta wave at both her and Jeff before opening the front door and leaving the apartment, her cat in a carry bag. When Annie turns back around, Jeff is now facing her, a smile on his face and a spatula in his hand. He is wearing sports shorts with a black top, looking sweaty. Annie tries her hardest not to linger on his forearms, on which his veins are bulging out. She also tries to ignore how attractive she thinks it is.

“Morning!” Jeff tells her.

“Morning.” Annie says back, smiling nervously.

“Did you have breakfast yet? I came back from jogging starving and made way too many pancakes. Truth is I can’t eat them all, I’m on a low-carb diet.”

“I haven’t had breakfast yet so I’ll gladly help you with that.” Annie exclaims joyfully.

“Great. Coffee?” Jeff asks while heading over to the coffee machine.

“Um, actually, I’d rather have some tea, if you have some.” Annie answers with a wince.

“Sure, you can look into Britta’s cupboard, she probably has some. Hope you don’t mind vegan organic stuff, though.” Jeff teases.

“Are you sure it’s okay? I feel embarrassed going through your stuff, I still haven’t had time to go grocery shopping and –“

“Annie, it’s fine, we gladly share here.” Jeff interrupts her with a comforting smile. “If it makes you feel any better, you can make her some smoothie when she comes back, she loves those.”

Annie chuckles at Jeff’s joke and then opens Britta’s cupboard to take a tea bag and a mug. She chooses “forest fruits” favor and immediately puts some water into the kettle before turning it on and waiting for it to boil. In the meantime, she sees from the corner of her eye Jeff putting a huge pile of pancakes on the kitchen table and sitting there, a cup of coffee in hand.

“So did you sleep well last night? Our last roommate was always gloating about how comfy the bed in that room was.” Jeff tells Annie before taking a sip of coffee.

“Um, yeah it was fine.” Annie says, sitting at the table as well. “Wasn’t easy to fall asleep at first, I was… overthinking, actually.”

“I get that. Britta mentioned where you were living before, it wasn’t a great neighbordhood, was it?” Jeff then asks, a sorry look on his face.

“It definitely wasn’t.” Annie admits, exhaling sharply. “Which is why I looked for another place as soon as I got my first job after graduation.”

“Oh congratulations! Where are you working?”

“Denver P.D. I’m a forensics agent.” Annie says proudly. “I got an internship at the FBI in Washington the summer after I graduated, then got the job here. So here I am.”

“Wow, that’s impressive!” Jeff says, smiling at her.

“Um what about you?” Annie asks politely.

“Well… Complicated story.” Jeff sighs, smiling nostalgically. “I used to be a lawyer.”

“Used to?” Annie asks, frowning.

“Yeah, this isn’t something I’m very proud of in retrospect.” Jeff says before getting up and turning off the cooking plates. “Do you want some bacon and eggs?”

“Um, yeah, sure.” Annie answers, disconcerted.

Annie watches Jeff taking two plates out of a cupboard and putting them on the table, one in front of her and one in front of where he sat earlier. Afterwards, he puts two eggs and some bacon in Annie’s plate while putting just one egg in his plate.

“Thanks.” Annie says with a smile.

“No problem.” Jeff answers while putting the pan into the dishwasher. “So yeah, I was a lawyer up until six years ago.”

“Why did you stop? If it’s not too personal.” Annie ads after she started eating, afraid of being intrusive.

“It’s okay, we’re going to live together, it’s fair we get to know each other right away.” Jeff asserts, sitting back down. “Well, I didn’t stop intentionally. My lawyer degree was fake and someone from my firm ratted me out.”

“Oh. I see.” Annie says, surprised.

“Like I said, this isn’t something I’m very proud of. It was a low hit for me. But then, I got my life back on tracks, applied for a two-year intensive program and finally got an actual degree. Then I opened my own firm with an old colleague of mine.”

“That’s amazing! So things turned around in a good way for you.”

“Yeah, they did for a while. Until I found out the colleague I opened my firm with was the one who ratted me out.” Jeff says casually, eating hungrily.

“Oh. That’s… Unfortunate.” Annie pouts, unsure of what to say.

“That’s one way to put it. Basically, I was disgusted by the lawyer world after all those manipulations and lying bullshits. I sold my shares of the firm along with my apartment and decided to start from scratch. Which is how I ended up in this crazy flat share.”

“And where do you work now?”

“I’m job-hunting these days. I actually applied for a law teaching position in a community college.”

“Oh in which college did you apply?”

“Greendale’s. I know they don’t rank good but their Dean seemed very interested in my resume. Or in me, I wasn’t able to tell.”

“Greendale, seriously? That’s where I went to college!” Annie squeals, excited.

“No way! Wow, what a small world.” Jeff says, smiling at Annie.

“I hope you’ll get the job. Fingers crossed!”

“Thanks, I should find out by Monday.”

Annie nods when she hears the kettle stop. She gets up, pours the now hot water into the mug and stir the tea bag for a few seconds.

“So what happened to your old roommate?” Annie inquires, curious. “The one I got the comfy bed from.”

“Yeah um… That will be a story for another time, things didn’t exactly end well and I know it’s still a touchy subject for Britta and Abed.” Jeff answers seriously.

“Oh… Okay. Sorry about that. And for asking so many questions.” Annie winces.

“Don’t worry about that. Well, I should hop into the shower now. It was great talking to you, Annie.”

“Agreed.”

With a smile, Jeff stands up, puts his plate and cutlery into the dishwasher and walks by Annie, stopping right in front of her. Annie’s heart jumps in her chest when she acknowledges how close they are.

“Make yourself at home, don’t feel embarrassed or anything.” Jeff says softly.

“Thank you.” Annie whispers, nervously putting a lock of hair behind her ear.

“I have a feeling we’re going to get along just fine.”

Annie really can’t help it, without being able to control it, her eyes linger on Jeff’s lips. _You’re not a silly teenager anymore, get it together!_ She shouts to herself mentally as her breathing becomes more panting and she notices Jeff looking at her lips as well.

“Um, I should, um… go back to unpacking.” Annie stammers, stealthily stepping aside.

“Right, if you need any help with that, ask away.” Jeff says.

“Sure, thanks.”

They share yet another longing and ambiguous look before Annie nervously grabs her tea mug that is still too hot and heads towards her room. Annie feels overwhelmed and she doesn’t like it one bit. Over the years, she learned how to be in control of her emotions, how to remain pragmatic. After all, it was one of her job’s requirement. Her holding-hands-at-Disneyland’s fantasy is now just a fantasy and she doesn’t expect to meet her Prince Charming anymore. At least, it is no longer at the top of her bucket list. Then how could she let her good resolutions fade away so easily whenever Jeff was around? She has met the guy only fourteen hours ago and yet, she could melt under his gaze. She definitely hates it. He is her roommate. It has to stay that way. No matter how he makes her feel.

***

Lying down on the floor, surrounded by packed and unpacked boxes, Annie sighs, exhausted already. She decides to go to the kitchen and pour herself a glass of water. When she opens her bedroom door, she hears muffed sounds coming from Britta’s bedroom. She is about to ignore it when she overhears her name. Intrigued, she walks silently and leans against the wall to listen. She knows eavesdropping is probably not the best way to start a relationship with her roommates but when she also hears Jeff’s voice, she is incapable of moving away.

“… maybe if you were here when Annie came to see the apartment, you would’ve had a say in this, but hey, what a surprise, you weren’t.” Britta’s voice say in an accusing tone.

“I know Britta, but remember what we said when you put that ad online? We agreed.” Jeff’s voice answers.

“We never agreed on that Jeff, I explicitly told you how stupid and womanizing it was.” Britta scolds.

“You could’ve at least listened to me, even if you didn’t agree. Now you can’t blame me for thinking the new roommate is hot.”

Annie’s cheeks suddenly burn her and she quietly gasps, shocked. What are they even talking about to come to that conclusion?

“Yeah I noticed the googly eyes, Jeff. It wasn’t very subtle.” Britta scoffs.

“It’s not like I can have control over my attraction to people, Britta. And I’m sorry if you don’t like it but yeah, I feel attracted to Annie. She looks… like a great girl.”

Annie makes a light smile but quickly composes herself. She should not be happy about a man objectifying her. Apparently, this is what Britta is telling him, after all.

“She definitely looks like a great person, which is _precisely_ why you need to keep it in your pants. I mean, jeez, there are like two hundred thousand women in this city and you choose to go after the roommates every time!”

That last statement makes Annie frown. “After the roommateS?” So, maybe Annie’s instincts haven’t failed her and something did happen between Britta and Jeff.

“Don’t bring Emma into this, I thought we would stop talking about it.” Jeff says in a harsh tone.

Annie slowly connects the dots in her mind. Maybe this Emma is the previous roommate that remains a touchy subject in the apartment. Wait, did Jeff have history with both the previous roommate AND Britta? That single thought repulses Annie. She does not want to be another trophy for a womanizer. She is better than that.

“You know damn well how I felt about Emma and it’s not my fault things went south.” Jeff keeps saying, sounding upset.

“Yeah, I know Jeff, because it’s neeever your fault.” Britta retorts sarcastically. “Put your pride aside for one second and hear me out – I’m only trying to be a good friend here. What happened between you and Emma was a catalyst event. You were hurt, we were hurt and it made our roommate run away. We all agreed on it, even Troy agreed and he’s not even our roommate!”

“Well, it feels like he is, considering how much time he spends here. We should consider asking him to pay his part of the rent after al –“

“Jeff, focus here!” Britta interrupts him, snapping her fingers. “I want you to say it – what did we all talk about after Emma left?”

Jeff mumbles something half-heartedly, so quietly that Annie isn’t able to hear a word distinctly.

“Say it like you mean it now.” Britta taunts Jeff.

“Golden rule of the roommates in apartment 303 – roommates don’t have sexual or romantic relationships with each other.” Jeff plainly says, as if he is reciting a poem he had to learn for school.

“Exactly. So what conclusion can you draw from it?”

“I get it Britta, there’s no need to infantilize me. I will not try to have sex with Annie, I promise.”

“Pinky swear?”

“There’s no way in hell I’m doing that, Britta.”

As Jeff and Britta start bickering like they are apparently used to, Annie walks back to her room, defeated. She just listened to these two people she barely knows deciding things for her. Just like her parents always did when she was still living with them. Just like too many persons she met in her life that made her feel like she couldn’t have a say in her own life.

Annie is not going to let Britta or Jeff decide what she can or cannot do. She is an adult, a grown woman and she has been dealing with her life alone for a long time. She is the one who gets to decide if she wants to have sex with her roommate or not. And Jeff does not know what he just got himself into.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter!!
> 
> Not to spoil anything but I did my research on the True American game... Hope you'll have some fun reading this chapter.
> 
> Thanks for all the positive feedback, I'm excited you like this story! It is really fun planning out.
> 
> As usual, a special thanks to the people over the Community Discord #fan-fic channel for helping me brainstorm and being supportive and encouraging. You guys are the best!

It is close to dinner time when Annie unpacks the last box in her new bedroom. She places her favorite pink stuffed animal next to the other ones on her pillows and sighs dreamily. She looks all around her and smiles, satisfied with how she has arranged the room. Now, it definitely feels more like home.

Annie is rearranging the empty boxes and folding them in order to throw them in the recycling bin downstairs when she hears a knock on the door.

“Come on in!” Annie yells distractingly.

She turns around to face Britta, standing in the doorframe with a smile.

“Wow, love what you did with the room!” Britta exclaims, studying the room attentively.

“Thanks.” Annie coos happily. “I’m glad I’m done with all those boxes.”

“Do you need help taking them to the recycling bin?” Britta asks.

“Gladly.”

Britta thus takes half of the folded boxes under her arm while Annie takes the other half and both of them then proceed to exit the apartment, take the elevator down to the flat’s basement and throw the boxes into the yellow recycling bins. They chit-chat on the way there and back. When they get back into the elevator to return to their apartment, the doors are about to close when someone calls from the entrance of the building and asks to hold them. Britta presses the “hold” button, allowing the person to slide in and get into the elevator with them.

“Thank you so much, dear.”

“No problem, Miss Bennett.” Britta says humbly.

“Please, I’ve told you many times, call me Shirley.”

Britta smiles politely while Annie looks at this Shirley Bennett. She doesn’t know the woman but she feels positive vibes coming from her. She sounds like a trustworthy and nice person.

“This is Shirley, our upstairs neighbor.” Britta tells Annie. “Shirley, this is our new roommate, Annie.”

“Oh, it’s lovely to meet you, An-nie.” Shirley says with a wide smile. “Welcome into the building.”

“Thank you, it’s nice to meet you too.” Annie softly says.

“Who are you replacing? The unsettling awkward young man, the cocky white guy or the lovely brunette?”

Annie frowns at that question and eyes Britta for advice. Britta chimes in and answers for Annie.

“Emma left, so Annie took her room.” Britta tells Shirley.

“Oh no, that girl was a lovely young woman, what happened? Nothing too bad, I hope?” Shirley asks sadly.

Annie can tell from Shirley’s tone that she is not actually feeling sad about the previous roommate leaving but rather that she is waiting for some gossip. Shirley looks suddenly very interested in the matter.

“We’ve had some differences, she thought it’d be best to find a new place.” Britta simply answers in a flat voice.

“That’s too bad.” Shirley pouts. “After that one time I found this Emma girl and the white guy doing ungodly business in the elevator, I assumed everything went perfectly fine in your flat-share.”

Annie quietly gasps and suddenly is not feeling comfortable inside the elevator. Luckily, it dings and arrives on the third floor, where Britta and Annie are supposed to come out.

“See you around Shirley!” Britta says while stepping out of the elevator.

“See you soon ladies. I’ll bring you some homemade cookies later this week for your settling-in, An-nie.” Shirley coos softly.

Annie awkwardly smiles and instantly follows Britta’s steps. She hears the elevator doors closing in as they arrive in front of the apartment door.

“Shirley’s a nice person but be careful what you say in the common areas of the building, she has ears everywhere and sure loves the juicy stuff.” Britta warns Annie as she is unlocking the front door.

“Um, s – sure.” Annie stammers, disconcerted.

“And also, if she brings you food, don’t eat it, we never had the heart to tell her but her Easter’s chocolate cake made us all fight for the bathroom the night that followed.”

Annie nods, raising her eyebrows at all this new information as the door is now unlocked and Britta walks into the apartment. Annie follows her and closes the door behind them. It smells like buttered noodles in the kitchen and when she arrives in the living-room, she sees Abed sitting in the couch, eating in a bowl while watching a movie screening on the television.

“Hi Abed.” Britta greets him as she is heading to the kitchen.

Abed doesn’t answer out loud but he waves at her. Shortly after, he waves at Annie, who smiles as a way of greeting him.

“Annie, if you want, I can make us some mac-and-cheese, I assume you haven’t had time to go grocery shopping today.” Britta tells her from the kitchen.

“Um yeah, I’ll go tomorrow, thank you.” Annie says, walking towards the kitchen to sit at the kitchen table.

“Of course, I’ll give you my supermarket address. It’s not a big brand, it’s a local shop and the owner mostly gets his products at farmer’s markets and ecofriendly places so you’ll be sure to get the finest things there.”

Annie nods and quietly observes Britta as she is putting the ingredients and the plate out in order to cook her mac-and-cheese. Afterwards, she takes a bottle of white wine out of the fridge and shows it to Annie with a smirk.

“Wine?” Britta asks.

“Why not.” Annie shrugs, chuckling lightly.

Britta pours them some wine into Christmas mugs, which makes Annie laugh.

“Sorry, we’re like peasants here, we don’t have wine glasses.” Britta winces with a laugh.

“It’s okay, it’ll taste the same anyway.” Annie tells her.

“Exactly!” Britta exclaims. “Please tell that to Jeff when he’s around, he keeps making fun of us with that.”

Annie lightly smiles and inevitably flushes at the mention of Jeff. She hasn’t forgotten about the conversation she overheard earlier today and she still doesn’t know what to think of it. At first, she was extremely annoyed, now she wishes she could forget about it because her competitive side is taking over and when it does, things can get very very far.

Annie comes back to Earth when she hears the front door unlocking. She lifts her head up and sees Troy walking into the apartment and heading straight towards the living-room side, as if it is a habit.

“Hi guys!” Troy exclaims.

“Hey Troy!” Britta says without looking at him.

“Does he have a spare key?” Annie asks Britta in a quiet voice.

“I guess so. I’m so used to seeing him around all the time that I didn’t even think about it.” Britta admits with a shrug.

“Hi Lil’Annie.” Troy suddenly says while sitting next to her.

“Hi.” Annie says shyly.

“What’s up, Brit?” Troy then asks Britta. “How’s Mister Doodle?”

“He’s okay now, he just had a little infection, the vet thinks he probably cut himself on the paw and it got infected. They gave him some medicine and made a quick surgery to cure the infection. I had to leave him at the vet, I’ll get him tomorrow.” Britta answers with a sad face. “It literally broke my heart to leave without him but I feel better knowing he’s okay.”

“And he’s in good hands Britta, don’t worry.” Annie says reassuringly.

Britta nods, smiling, before putting the plate of fresh mac-and-cheese inside the oven.

“Are you spending the night here Troy?” Britta asks him before taking a sip of wine.

“Probably, I don’t know yet. I’ll just crash on the couch like I usually do, don’t worry.” Troy shrugs.

“Yeah but now that we have Annie, you might want to make sure she’s okay with that as well.” Britta points out.

“Oh right, sorry.” Troy winces.

“Oh I don’t mind, don’t worry.” Annie assures, surprised they are actually asking for her approval.

“Awesome. I knew you’d be the coolest, Annie.”

Annie laughs and can’t help but nervously put a strand of hair behind her ear. Even though a few years have passed since she was in high school, seeing Troy again reminds Annie of the time she used to have a major crush on him. Of course, with time she has quickly gotten over it but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have some special effect on her anymore.

“Okay, I’m going to watch _Kickpuncher_ with Abed.” Troy announces before standing up and going to sit on the couch next to Abed.

“It’s so funny you and Troy went to the same high-school.” Britta tells Annie while sitting down in front of her.

“Yeah, I didn’t expect to see him yesterday, what a small world.” Annie says, smiling. “And another coincidence is Jeff actually applied for a job at the community college I went to! It feels like I was meant to meet you guys.”

“I’m a rather rational and pragmatic person but maybe we were, who knows.” Britta chortles.

Yet again, Annie can feel like Britta is dissatisfied whenever she mentions having a talk with Jeff. After she heard about Jeff and Britta’s conversation, she thinks she understands why. It doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that Britta may have had history with Jeff and is therefore jealous. It looks like something bad happened with the previous roommate, Emma, and Britta obviously doesn’t want it to reiterate itself.

“Good evening, everyone!”

Annie turns around to look at Jeff now in the room, sharing a handshake with Troy and waving at Abed before walking into the kitchen side.

“Hey Jeff, want some mac-and-cheese?” Britta asks him. “I originally made it for me and Annie but I think I messed up with the measurements and I might have cooked for an entire regiment instead.”

“Thanks Britta but I was planning on eating a salad tonight.” Jeff answers before heading towards the fridge.

“Ugh you and your stupid diet.” Britta sighs while rolling her eyes. “We get it, you have abs to take care of, but I’m sure you can allow yourself a cheat meal once in a while.”

“It’s not only about my abs, Britta, eating healthy helps you keep a sane body. But how would I know, I definitely should take some advice from someone eating out of a Nutella jar.”

“First of all, I would _never_ buy products from that shitty palm-oil exploiting-children brand, and second of all, yes, I happened to eat an entire vegan peanut butter jar with a spoon once but Paige had just broken up with me and you know how hard it was for me, so thanks for bringing that up, a-hole.”

“I was just messing with you, sorry, I forgot about the context of that shameful jar moment.”

“Never mind.” Britta grumbles.

Annie quietly observes and listens to the conversation when suddenly, something clicks inside her head. Maybe she got it all wrong about Britta and Jeff after all…

“For the record, Paige is Britta’s ex and she brutally broke up with her out of nowhere so we try not to mention her too often.” Jeff whispers to Annie. “Obviously I screwed that up tonight but usually, we’re careful about it. Britta’s not the one to get attached easily and yet, Paige messed her up pretty bad.”

“I see.” Annie humbly says. “I’ll try to remember that.”

Jeff smiles and winks at her before taking a salad bowl out of a cupboard and then taking ingredients out of the fridge to make himself a salad. Annie observes him distractingly, focusing on how concentrated he looks when he slices tomatoes or how he subtly licks his thumb to taste the sauce. She hears muffled sounds in the background but she isn’t able to fully hear what the others are saying because she is suddenly fascinated by the way Jeff washes the salad leaves.

“Annie, what do you think?”

Out of the blue, Annie looks away from Jeff and notices Britta looking expectantly at her. It only takes a few seconds for her to understand that Britta probably asked her a question.

“Um, I – I don’t know, what do I, what should I think?” Annie stammers embarrassingly, not having a clue what Britta just asked her.

“Abed suggested we should all spend the evening together, if you’re too tired because of the unpacking and stuff, you don’t have to stay with us if you don’t feel like it.” Britta sums up, knowing fully well Annie didn’t heard her.

“I’m not tired, I’d love to hang out with you guys.” Annie asserts with a smile.

“Cool. Cool cool cool.” Abed simply says.

“You know what that means?” Troy then asks excitingly.

Annie watches the reactions to Troy’s question with curiosity – Abed looks ecstatic and shares a handshake with Troy while Jeff and Britta complain loudly. Annie doesn’t understand what this is about but it apparently promises to be interesting.

“Not this again, please!” Jeff rants.

“Jeff doesn’t like it because he still doesn’t understand the rules.” Abed points out.

“What rules?? This game doesn’t even have rules, you’re just randomly shouting stuff and everyone randomly follows!” Jeff sighs.

“Of course it has rules, Jeff. You’re just struggling to grasp the concept for now.” Abed tells him.

“Yeah right, it’s not like it’s the weirdest game in the world.” Jeff grumbles.

“Come on Troy, Annie just got here, you really want to do that right now?” Britta asks Troy, pointing at Annie at the same time.

“Let’s ask her right away.” Jeff suggests before turning around to face Annie. “Annie, do you want to spend your evening playing a weird game with your weird roommates and the weird guy that keeps hanging around here?”

“That’s me!” Troy waves when he understands Jeff is talking about him.

“Um, I just… I actually don’t know what you guys are talking about.” Annie eventually admits, confused.

“We’re talking about our roommates’ game, of course.” Abed says.

Annie frowns and then sees Abed and Troy sharing a meaningful look before turning their heads to look at her and inhaling before saying simultaneously:

“True American!!”

***

Up until this moment, Annie had no idea she would spend her Saturday night walking around her new living-room with her new roommates on couches and chairs because the floor is lava and they have to take down the King at the center of the Castle. And yet, here she is. Walking on couches and yelling improbable stuff.

“One, two, three, JFK!” Troy yells.

“FDR!” Everyone else shouts.

Then, they grab a beer each at the center of the game area and separate to each go to a different zone. Annie tries to keep up but even after carefully hearing and writing down the rules dictated by Abed and Troy for at least fifteen minutes, she still isn’t sure she really understands what the game is about. What she mostly understood is that she basically needs to drink. All the time. The evening is probably not going to end well.

“Britta, it’s your turn.” Abed yells at Britta, standing in a different area than his.

“Alright, I’m moving up one space closer to the Castle and next time I’ll be able to take a pawn.” Britta explains while jumping from the couch to the central table, a beer in hand.

“Remember Annie, you have to always have a beer in hand, otherwise, you lose.” Troy yells at Annie from the other side of the room.

Annie nods, checking if her beer isn’t empty yet. She notices only Jeff and Britta are able to chug down their beers but if she does the same thing, she’ll probably be out of the game before it’s halfway through.

“Okay, if you guys want to move, you have to complete this quote.” Britta yells at the others.

“Ugh I hate this one!” Troy complains.

“Don’t go chasing waterfalls…” Britta begins, ending her sentence in a high-pitched voice to indicate someone has to finish her sentence.

There is a few seconds of reflection and confusion by everyone else when suddenly, Abed makes widened eyes and points towards Britta.

“Please stick to the rivers and lakes that you’re used to!” Abed yells confidently.

“Yay!” Britta applauds while Abed moves two spots.

“What the hell was even that??” Jeff exclaims.

“A 90’s R&B music, Jeff. You’re too old, you wouldn’t know.” Britta taunts him.

“I’ll remember that, Britta.” Jeff scolds her.

“It’s Annie’s turn now.” Abed points out.

“Um, okay.” Annie says, uncertain.

Annie moves from the table to the center area and grabs a pawn from the castle. Basically, the castle is made of a mountain of beers, that they are calling “the pawns” and one bottle of liquor in the middle, which they are referring to as “the King”. In order to win, they have to remove all the pawns and the one who gets to the bottle of liquor wins the game. At least, it is what Annie thinks she understood.

“Great, now choose a rule for one other player to be able to move.” Troy reminds her.

“Okay, um… Let’s do the count.” Annie suggests.

They all yell “one, two, three” before putting a hand in front of their foreheads with a number of fingers holding. Britta and Troy have both chosen two, therefore, they’re allowed to move one spot, Jeff has chosen a three like Annie, as for Abed, he is the only one with a one so he stays still.

“Thanks Annie, it looks like great minds think alike.” Jeff tells her from afar.

Annie doesn’t pick up on that but she thinks she sees Britta rolling her eyes from afar.

As the game goes by, there are less and less beers holding the castle, however, the players are more and more inebriated. At some point, Troy almost falls into the lava part because he is struggling to be motionless. It makes Britta giggle.

“We’re almost to the king now, let’s not lose focus!” Abed reminds them.

When it is down to three pawns left, it is Jeff’s turn. He moves from the couch to a little sofa and almost misses it. As Annie watches everyone stepping onto the furniture, she thinks it is probably a good thing they all took their shoes off before playing the game.

“I’m choosing the ‘something in common’ rule. You can move three spots if you win.” Jeff states when he is settled into place, taking another sip of beer.

“Shoot.” Troy says.

“Make it difficult, Winger.” Britta tells him.

“Alright, what do Pierce and Britta have in common?” Jeff asks with a straight face.

“I don’t think I like where this is headed to, Jeff.” Britta remarks, frowning disapprovingly.

Troy and Abed look very reflective for a minute. Britta tries to think as well, even though she is apparently upset about Jeff comparing her to the landlord. As for Annie, she is too new to the flat-share to have the actual answer. Therefore, she patiently waits for someone to have the answer first. After all, she does not care about winning the game. The only thing she can think about is how her head feels heavy and the room is spinning around her. Oh, and also how Jeff’s ass looks annoyingly good in those jeans.

“I really don’t find the answer to that question, Jeff.” Abed eventually says, approved by Troy, who’s nodding.

“Alright, I’m going to give you the answer – what Britta and Pierce have in common is that they’re both listening to the crappy _Natalie is Freezing_ ’s music.” Jeff says before bursting out laughing.

As Abed and Troy let out a surprised “oh”, Britta grabs a cushion nearby and throws it at Jeff to show her discontent.

“Hey that pillow was part of the moving area!” Troy protests.

“Who cares, we’re almost done with the game.” Britta points out.

“You’re mad because you can’t deny what I just said.” Jeff teases Britta.

“I’m mad because you’re a jerk. And also because _Natalie is Freezing_ is a great group and you can’t see it because your music taste sucks.”

Jeff sticks her tongue out to her and Britta quickly mimics him. Annie is oddly fascinated by these bunch of adults playing a strange game and acting like children at times. At least, they don’t care about what people might think of them and they just enjoy simple things. Annie could benefit from people like that.

“How do you even know Pierce’s listening to them?” Britta then asks, apparently confused.

“A week ago, I was parking outside and Pierce was here, sitting in his car and listening to _Pillar of Garbage_.” Jeff explains.

“Oh that one is a masterpiece!” Britta squeals.

“So you agree, you have something in common with Pierce. Next thing we know, you guys are wearing BFF bracelets.” Jeff laughs.

Britta takes another cushion to throw it at Jeff, who keeps laughing. The game keeps going until eventually, Abed moves into the center space when there are no more pawns around and grabs the King, also-known-as the bottle of whisky. Everyone applauds and shouts “JFK!” for the last time before moving the furniture back into place and settling into the couch. They fall onto it, sighing.

“Well, I’m exhausted.” Britta says.

“I’m drunk.” Troy retorts.

“I think we all are, Troy.” Jeff points out with a chuckle.

“So how are you Annie? What did you think?” Troy asks Annie.

“Well… I’m not sure I fully understood the game… But it was fun.” Annie simply says with a smile.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get better at it with time.” Abed tells her honestly.

“Alright, I think I’m going to head out, good night guys.” Britta says before getting up.

“Me too. Troy, want to play Minecraft with me?” Abed asks after Britta left the room.

“Abed, have I ever answered ‘no’ to that question?” Troy points out sarcastically.

They both stand up at once and wave at Annie and Jeff before leaving.

“Night guys!” Annie says shyly.

Annie sinks even more into the couch, her head getting heavier and heavier. She feels her stomach is heavy as well from all the beer she has drunk and without being able to prevent it, she burps.

“Nice.” Jeff teases her.

“I’m so sorry.” Annie whispers, mortified.

“Don’t be.” Jeff says before burping as well. “It’s the True American effect.”

Annie laughs at Jeff’s sentence and suddenly, she realizes it is only the two of them left, both sinking into the couch with apparently no intention or physical motivation whatsoever to stand up and get back to their room. She tries to ignore the warm feeling in her underbelly as she acknowledges how close they are sitting next to each other because she is inebriated and her mind doesn’t function properly anymore in these kind of scenarios.

“We have to… clean all this mess up.” Annie then manages to say, trying her hardest not to fall asleep in that couch.

“Don’t even worry about that, we usually clean everything the next morning. Well, the first person who wakes up does, anyway.” Jeff tells her.

Jeff leans in closer to her, as if he is afraid she won’t be able to hear him. She feels his breath tickling her neck and it makes her shiver. He smells like beer and peppermint at the same time. Usually, it would make her wince but at this moment, she is practically besotted by all the scents on Jeff. The scent of his citrus shampoo, the scent of his cologne...

“I should go to sleep, then. It’s been a long day.” Annie tells him quietly, even though she is not moving an inch.

“Yeah I should go to sleep too.” Jeff whispers, not moving either.

Annie’s head is spinning but she is still rational enough to notice how close their faces are and how Jeff’s eyes keep lingering on her lips. The warmth in her underbelly gets even more intense and she has to repeat herself mentally that she needs to get up and walk to her room.

“Shit, I really want to kiss you right now.” Jeff mumbles at some point.

Annie swallows hardly and as Jeff’s lips softly brush hers, she brutally turns her head before they can lock their lips together. It is so fast that she feels nauseous for a second.

“We’re drunk, Jeff, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Annie firmly tells him.

“No, yeah, you’re right.” Jeff sighs, sitting straight and rubbing his face with his hands. “It’s not even a good idea when we’re sober, so right now would be really stupid.”

“Yeah. It’s not a good idea because of Emma, right?” Annie then stings.

Jeff seems to get back to his senses and he looks at Annie with widened eyes, visibly shocked by her statement.

“Next time you have a conversation about how hot your new roommate is and how you can’t have sex with her, maybe you should make sure the door is closed. The apartment is not that big after all.” Annie tells him in a confident voice, even though she doesn’t feel well at this second.

“Annie, I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’ve heard but –“

“I’m not mad, Jeff. I even agree – roommates shouldn’t have sex with each other. We’re living together now, it wouldn’t be a good idea to ruin things like that.”

“I know that.” Jeff nods.

“Says the guy who was about to kiss me thirty seconds ago.” Annie retorts sarcastically.

“Okay, let’s say Sober Jeff doesn’t have control over Drunk Jeff and from now on, he’ll be careful and not try kissing Drunk or Sober Annie anymore. What do you think?”

“I think it’s a good idea. I really like this flat-share and I want to stay here as long as possible.”

“Great. Me too.”

“Then we agree. We’ll just be roommates and nothing more.”

“Nothing more.”

Annie puts out her hand so they can seal their deal by shaking their hands together. Jeff takes her hand and shakes it before pulling her closer to him and pressing his lips against hers. Annie immediately pulls away and gasps out of shock.

“Jeff!” She screams.

“Sorry.” Jeff whispers with a grin. “Drunk Jeff is a real mess and you look really hot right now.”

“Okay, I think we both need to go to bed, we’re not thinking straight anymore.”

“Oh but I am very much so thinking straight, trust me.”

Annie’s cheeks blush, because the air is hot in the room, because she has drunk too much alcohol and because she is dying to swoop down on Jeff, kiss him and show him what Drunk Annie is capable of. However, Annie remains reasonable and stands up at once. She flattens her skirt and manages to put on a smile. Her stomach suddenly tightens and she feels even worse. She has definitely drunk too much.

“Good night Jeff.” Annie solemnly says.

“Good night Annie.” Jeff mumbles with a grin.

Annie instantly runs to the bathroom and when she is there, lets herself fall on the floor in front of the toilets. She abruptly opens the toilet seat, ties her hair in a neglected way with the scrunchie around her wrist and finally throws up. She both feels better and worse at the same time. Maybe playing True American on her second night in the flat-share was not the greatest idea, after all.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter!!
> 
> Not much action here, it's more focused on how Annie fits into her new world and gets to know her roommates. Hope you'll like it! Feedback is greatly appreciated :)
> 
> (As usual, a huge thanks to the Community Discord #fan-fic channel for their support and encouragement. They're the best!)

That morning, Annie wakes up dehydrated and with a very unpleasant headache. Grunting softly, she stretches in her bed and looks around her. She still has to get used to her new surroundings but she feels less intimated than the day before. Now that it has her belongings in it, the room starts to feel a little bit more like her safe haven.

Annie gets out of bed and instantly walks out of her room to head towards the kitchen. She rubs her face and instinctively looks around her. She has not checked the time yet but from the lighting of the outside reverberating inside the apartment, it is definitely past 10 A.M. Annie groans another time – she hates waking up late.

As she is slowly waking up and remembering the night before, Annie drinks the glass of water she just poured herself in one go. She was very thirsty, indeed. And she feels like her stomach is on fire.

Annie remembers quite well she has thrown up right before going to bed. Luckily, she was not drunk to the point when she forgets to brush her teeth, therefore, she managed to respect her nightly routine before collapsing into her bed and falling asleep in a matter of seconds.

Annie puts her glass down on the kitchen table, which is still messy from the night before. She tries to ignore the numerous empty bottles of beer and misplaced furniture in the living-room because even though she is apparently the first one who woke up in the flat-share, she is not very keen on cleaning the common area on her own.

However, Annie gathers the courage to clean the kitchen area because she is starving and she is craving a big breakfast. She connects her phone to the Bluetooth speaker abandoned next to the microwave and puts an Aretha Franklin playlist on Spotify to make herself some breakfast with good music in the background – at a low level so that she does not wake the other roommates up.

Just when the song _Say a Little Prayer_ ends, Annie hears someone walking into the room. She turns around to see Abed standing in the living-room. She softly smiles at the sight of him wearing green pajamas with planes and spaceships designs on it.

“Morning!” Annie greets joyfully.

“Good morning Annie.” Abed responds in a flat voice. “What are you doing?”

“I’m making breakfast.” Annie gently says. “Do you want something?”

“No thanks. We have our daily rituals here, we don’t break them. I usually have a hot cocoa on Sunday mornings.”

“Okay, no problem, that means there will be more for me.” Annie jokes.

Abed does not say something back and just goes towards his cupboard to take a mug and chocolate powder out of it. Annie stares at him for a few seconds, dumbfounded. She is starting to think Abed is not thriving at social interactions. Shrugging the thought away, Annie focuses on her scrambled eggs again as she hears Abed turning the microwave on behind her.

“By the way, did Troy sleep here in the end?” Annie eventually asks Abed.

“Guess so.” Abed simply answers.

“You don’t know?” Annie asks, surprised.

“No I don’t, Troy pretty much does what he wants around the apartment.” Abed admits.

“I see… Which makes me think, why isn’t he the one who moved in instead of me? You’re all friends, it probably should’ve been better.”

“Oh we specifically agreed we would never actually live together. Troy and I have the most awesome friendship in the world, if we lived together, it would possibly jeopardize it. Besides it means he would have to comply with our roommate golden rule and it would compromise a lot of things.”

“Like what?”

Annie notices the instant change in Abed’s expression. Deadpan until now, he now has raised his eyebrows and stares into the distance.

“Nothing, forget about it.” Abed then says, avoiding Annie’s gaze while he is taking his mug out of the microwave.

“What would it compromise?” Annie keeps asking, inquisitive.

Abed is completely ignoring Annie. He quietly drinks his hot chocolate and pretends like she is not even in the room. A little bit offended, Annie huffs and decides to ignore him as well.

While she is humming to the notes of _Won’t Be Long_ , Annie’s thoughts wander. She can’t help but wonder how Troy being their actual roommate would compromise anything. Abed has specifically mentioned the golden rule of the apartment. Annie is very much aware of it, since she overheard Britta and Jeff talking about it. “ _Golden rule of the roommates in apartment 303 – roommates don’t have sexual or romantic relationships with each other._ ” Does it mean that… Troy has a relationship with someone in the apartment?

Annie frowns while having that thought. It can’t be Abed, he said himself they were best friends. Unless…

Annie vigorously shakes her head to stop thinking about it. It is none of her concerns, she has just arrived in the apartment and she has to respect her roommates’ privacy just as much as they have to respect hers. She would not like people snooping around in her private business, therefore, it is only natural she does not snoop around herself.

“So Abed, what do you usually do on Sundays?” Annie asks gleefully, trying to make Abed comfortable. “I suppose you have a ritual as well.”

“I do.” Abed answers with a light smile. “First I have my hot cocoa, then I take a shower. After that, I watch an action movie. Then I have lunch with Britta, Jeff and Emma, but since Emma’s no longer here, from now on, I’ll have lunch with Britta, Jeff and you, Annie.”

“Great.” Annie says, suddenly ill-at-ease at the mention of Emma.

“After that, there are two possible scenarios. First one: I’ll play a video game for a couple of hours, then have a walk in the park nearby to get some fresh air. Second one: Troy comes over and we binge-watch a TV show we’re both currently watching at the moment, then have a walk in the park nearby to get some fresh air. Then it’s dinner time and after that, bedtime.”

“Wow, that’s… a very scheduled ritual.” Annie sums up, fascinated by Abed’s way of speaking.

“What’s _your_ Sunday ritual, Annie?” Abed then asks her.

“Oh, I… I don’t really have one, actually.” Annie admits with a shrug. “I mean, up until I graduated, I was usually studying and organizing my notebooks and binders but now that I’m not in college anymore… Yeah, I’m still organizing my binders to be honest,” Annie corrects with a light laugh, “but I’m also trying to get some chores done and then to relax.”

“What do you do to relax? Do you watch movies? TV shows? What’s your favorite genre? Favorite actor? Favorite actress?”

“Um… I’m more of a reading-books person, actually.”

“Oh. I see. You still like movies though, right?”

“Of course I do.”

“Cool. Cool cool cool.”

Annie smiles at Abed, who gives her what resembles a smile as well. He may not be very comfortable at interacting with other human beings, just as Britta had mentioned the first time Annie visited the apartment, however, he does look like a sweet person, Annie will give him that.

“Okay, I guess our get-to-know-each-other conversation is done now.” Abed remarks.

“Our what?” Annie asks, confused.

“The typical conversation two characters who still hadn’t interacted with each other throughout a movie have when a new character gets into a friend group.” Abed explains bluntly. “In this scenario, you’re our new character, Annie.”

“Oh. Right. I could be like… Rachel from _Friends_ when she moves in with Monica.” Annie suggests with a satisfied grin.

“A _Friends_ reference.” Abed points out, nodding. “You’re interesting, Annie. I can feel like our group dynamic will benefit from your addition.”

In Abed’s language, it sounds like a compliment, therefore, Annie sincerely smiles and tilts her head on her right. As she puts her scrambled eggs and bacon into a plate while listening to yet another Aretha Franklin’s song, Annie realizes how happy she actually feels in this instant. It is sunny outside, she is about to have a breakfast in her new apartment and for the first time in a long time, Sundays don’t feel lonely anymore.

“Alright, if you’ll excuse me.” Annie says before exiting the kitchen.

Heading towards the bathroom, Annie’s smile does not fade away. She has absolutely no regrets for having left her previous apartment and is more than excited for this new life ahead of her.

As she is about to go inside the bathroom, Annie hears a door opening from the other end of the hallway. Instinctively, she turns her head to see if it is Britta or Jeff that just woke up, so that she can greet them. Jeff’s door is still closed, therefore, she assumes it must be Britta coming her way in this instant.

“Hey Brit–“ Annie begins before interrupting herself.

Annie remains speechless when she makes eye contact with Troy, who has just come out of Britta’s bedroom, dressed in the exact same clothes as the night before, his eyes widened in surprise.

“Um… Hi Troy?” Annie corrects, her voice pitching at the end of her sentence.

“Heeeey Annie.” Troy says, apparently uncomfortable.

Annie immediately connects the dots in her mind. And she finally understands what Abed meant earlier when he said Troy could not move into the apartment because of the golden rule.

“I’m… going to head out, see you later.” Troy quickly mumbles before walking towards the front door.

Annie watches Troy getting out of the apartment quickly, stunned. She goes to the toilets, washes her hands and returns to the kitchen with the same look of confusion on her face. Abed, who is still sitting at the kitchen’s table, eating cereals, looks at her with curiosity.

“You’ve just witnessed Troy’s walk-of-shame, haven’t you?” Abed casually asks Annie.

“I… guess so.” Annie answers, surprised.

“You get why Troy hasn’t moved into the apartment?”

“I do now.”

Abed does not keep the conversation going and focuses back on eating his cereals. Annie eats her breakfast as well, in silence. By the moment they are both done eating, Britta makes her arrival into the kitchen, moaning and scraping her messy hair.

“The True American’s hangover is truly the worst.” Britta points out as she is grabbing a mug.

Britta then goes towards the coffee machine and makes herself some coffee. Annie quietly observes her, intrigued. Since the beginning, she had suspected something was going on between Britta and Jeff when, in fact, she was completely mistaken.

“How are you Annie?” Britta suddenly asks her, leaning against the counter while waiting for her coffee to be ready.

“I’m okay.” Annie simply answers. “I was a little out cold when I woke up this morning but now I feel better.”

“Cool. Love the music, by the way, it really sets a good mood.” Britta tells her with a smile.

“Thanks.” Annie coos, satisfied.

“Alright, I’m going to get some coffee first and then, we’ll clean the living-room together, if you guys want.” Britta suggests.

“Sure!” Annie approves.

“Good morning, fellow citizens!” A singing voice says.

“Ugh Jeff we’re not playing True American anymore and just thinking about it makes me want to throw up.” Britta points out disapprovingly.

Jeff laughs at Britta’s comment before laying eyes on Annie. When she remembers what happened the night before, Annie’s heart skips a beat. The power Jeff’s gaze has on her body is truly getting infuriating for her.

“Morning Annie.” Jeff says mellifluously.

“Morning.” Annie just answers.

While she keeps staring at Jeff, Annie hears Britta mumbling something from the other side of the kitchen that sounds like “get a room”, although she is not one hundred percent sure. She doesn’t pick up on that and keeps eating her breakfast as Britta sits down at the table with her coffee mug and Jeff stays at the counter to put some fruits inside the blender.

“Smoothie, anyone?” Jeff offers while looking at his roommates.

“No thanks.” Abed answers.

Annie and Britta both shake their heads from left to right, therefore, Jeff shrugs and grabs some milk that he pours inside the blender with the rest of the fruits before turning it on.

While the blender is on, nobody is speaking, since it is noisy. Annie is almost done eating her scrambled eggs when she distractingly looks at Jeff, waiting by the counter for his smoothie to be prepared. She remembers what he said to her the night before, about wanting to kiss her and thinking she looks hot. Annie feels her skin flushing at that memory and when she thinks about the way their lips skimmed against each other, the room is suddenly hot. Annie mentally slaps herself and as the blender turns off, she clears her plates from the table and puts them inside the dishwasher before leaving the room without a word.

“Hey Annie!” Britta hails her.

“Yeah?” Annie responds, stopping herself and briefly turning around.

“Want to go buy some groceries later?” Britta asks her.

“Sure, um, I’m just going to take a shower first but we can go in an hour, if you want. This way, we’ll have time to clean the living-room as well.”

“Great idea.”

Annie nods and goes straight to her bedroom. She vigorously tries to chase the image of Jeff leaning down to kiss her from her mind as she picks what clothes to wear.

She made it very clear last night, Annie does not want to engage in any relationship with Jeff. She finally found somewhere she belongs, somewhere that feels like home and she does not want to ruin it just because her insanely attractive roommate makes her lose her mind. Annie is a reasonable woman, she can control herself. She just has to overcome her attraction to Jeff by ignoring it and everything will be fine. Right?

Annie takes a quick shower and puts her clothes on before meeting her roommates back in the living-room. They split chores in order to make the kitchen and the living-room clean again, which takes them only fifteen minutes since there are four of them. Once they are done, Britta gets dressed and grabs her purse before meeting Annie in front of the door and they both leave the apartment together to go to the store. Annie is relieved she is finally able to go grocery shopping as she is feeling uncomfortable borrowing stuff from these people she barely knows.

When they step inside the elevator, a man is already there. Annie notices the way his face lights up when he sees Britta. However, Britta keeps a straight face and does not seem like she wants to acknowledge him.

“Good morning, Britta.” The man tells her in a strong British accent.

“Hi Ian, what’s up?” Britta casually answers.

“Nothing much, really.” Ian says with a light smile. “I was about to go for a walk on this lovely sunny day. How about you, ladies? Oh and may I say, I don’t believe we’ve already met, miss.”

“This is Annie, our new roommate.” Britta briefly introduces them. “Annie, this is Ian, he lives on the fifth floor and is a very good friend of Jeff’s.”

“Oh hi, nice to meet you.” Annie cheerfully says, shaking Ian’s hand.

“Likewise, Annie.” Ian tells her. “I certainly hope these crazy fellas treat you well.”

“For the anecdote, Ian’s the one who told Jeff about our roommate search when Jeff was looking for a place to live a few months ago.” Britta explains to Annie.

“Oh okay, nice.” Annie simply says with a light smile.

“Well, I do hope you’ll enjoy your stay here, Annie.” Ian politely says. “I must say this flat of yours possesses quite the charm, Britta.”

“It does. Our last roommate had taste regarding decorations.”

“Only regarding decorations, then. Her taste in men was certainly doubtful, wasn’t it?”

Ian starts laughing and apparently expects Britta to follow in but as she does no such thing, he awkwardly stops and scrapes the back of his neck, clearing his throat.

“Alrighty then!” Ian then says as the elevator’s doors open on the ground floor and they walk towards the building’s entrance. “Apologies for the yakking, I wish you ladies a delightful day.”

“Have a nice day Ian, guess we’ll see you around.” Britta tells him.

“Bye!” Annie simply greets.

The three of them then exit the building and Ian goes immediately on his right as Annie and Britta go on their left. Annie looks up and sees that it is, indeed, sunny out.

“Apparently you’re going to meet all of our neighbors in that elevator.” Britta suddenly points out with a chuckle.

“It seems like it.” Annie approves with a laugh.

“Ian’s a nice guy but I’m trying to be not too friendly with him.” Britta briefly explains. “Jeff told me he has a crush on me and he’s already tried to hit on me a few times, so I don’t want to give him the wrong idea, you know.”

“Of course.” Annie nods.

“Anyway… You must be wondering why everyone keeps talking about our last roommate like that.” Britta then says.

Annie squints at Britta to take a good look at her despite the heavy lighting. Britta unintentionally threw a line at Annie to ask questions about the infamous Emma that everyone keeps talking about but yet remains a mystery. Even though Jeff has mentioned she is still a touchy subject to Britta and Abed, Annie might not have another opportunity to have more information on the matter, therefore, she decides to take advantage of the occasion.

“I’ve noticed that, it’s true.” Annie says in a pretend casual tone. “I guess she didn’t leave the apartment a while ago, did she?”

“To be honest, she left, like, two weeks ago.” Britta sighs. “Which is why we’ve mentioned in the ad that we quickly needed someone to fill in for her, otherwise, the rent would’ve been too expensive for the three of us.”

“I understand.” Annie nods. “It looks like she left in a hurry, though.”

Annie notices the way Britta suddenly seems bothered and she realizes that maybe she should really not put her nose where it does not belong.

“I’m not going to extend on the subject because we’ve already talked about it enough but… Long story short, Emma and Jeff were a thing for a while, and then they had a nasty breakup and it became insufferable in the apartment, so… Emma decided to move out.”

“Oh… I see.”

It was not as detailed as she thought it would be but at least, Annie got the confirmation that Jeff and Emma used to date. The “nasty breakup” remains vague, though. Annie figures it will probably be a story for another time, as Britta doesn’t look too keen on keeping that conversation going.

“Anyway, the past is in the past.” Britta then exhales. “Now _you_ ’re here and I’m excited to have another gal pal around. Us girls need to stick with each other, right?”

“We definitely do.” Annie approves softly.

Britta smiles and takes Annie’s arm in hers, which warms Annie’s heart. They walk alongside each other and Annie feels so good in the moment that she decides her questions about Emma and the fact that she saw Troy leaving Britta’s bedroom this morning would be for another time. At the moment, she just wants to enjoy her Sunday’s walk to the store, arm in arm with her new friendly roommate.

***

When they come back from the store, Annie goes directly to the kitchen in order to put the fresh food she bought in the fridge. Britta does the same thing and quickly, they notice that Jeff is talking to someone in the hallway leading to the bedrooms, who doesn’t sound like Abed.

“Hey we’re home!” Britta then yells.

“Oh good!” Jeff yells back. “Pierce came here to meet Annie, I was just telling him you went grocery shopping and you should be back soon enough, what a great timing.”

Britta instantly winces at Annie, which concerns her. Is the landlord this bad?

Annie walks towards the living-room at the same time Jeff steps in. There is an elderly man behind him, wearing tainted glasses and flip-flops. He quickly acknowledges Annie and makes a wide smile at her.

“Hello there, I’m Pierce Hawthorne, your landlord.” Pierce introduces himself.

“Good morning, I’m Annie Edison, the new tenant.” Annie says with a forced smile.

“Damn Winger, since you’ve arrived, it’s a real hottie’s parade in this apartment, you must have a magnet.” Pierce then guffaws while winking at Annie.

Annie widens her eyes in surprise at that statement and lightly gasps, a little bit shocked. She now understands why Jeff had mentioned on her first night here that it would not be a bummer if she didn’t get to meet the landlord right away.

“Seriously Pierce?” Britta scolds from the kitchen. “Five seconds into talking to the new roommate and you’ve already made a gross comment? Must be a record there.”

“It wasn’t gross, it was a compliment!” Pierce asserts, apparently upset.

“Yeah, well, feel free to keep your ‘compliments’ to yourself regarding women.” Britta tells him sarcastically, mimicking quotation marks with her fingers on the word “compliment”.

“Hey don’t use that tone with me young lady, I’m your landlord, you owe me some respect.” Pierce points out menacingly.

“You know Pierce, as long as I’m paying my rent on time, you have nothing to say to me and you know it.” Britta mentions with a defiant smile.

“Alright, maybe we should stay civil here and wish Pierce a good day before he leaves.” Jeff steps in while accompanying Pierce to the front door.

“Yeah, sure.” Britta mumbles before putting away her groceries.

“Will you say ‘hi’ to Ay-bed for me, please?” Pierce asks Jeff. “I guess he must be with his obnoxiously numerous family at some gathering today. Isn’t it Ramadhan or something like that?”

“I’ll tell him you said ‘hi’ when I go to his bedroom, where he currently is, and I definitely won’t mention you made this inappropriate assumption.” Jeff says with a hypocritical grin. “Have a great day Pierce, see you around.”

Pierce briefly says goodbye to Britta and Annie and waves before stepping out of the apartment. Jeff closes the door behind him and once he is sure Pierce is no longer around, he sighs heavily and grunts.

“I swear the man’s getting worse and worse.” Jeff points out as he is turning around and walking towards Annie.

“So sorry you had to witness that, Annie.” Britta says, her lips pursed. “Usually he waits for the second time he sees you before being rude.”

“It’s okay, I… I’m not taking it personally.” Annie ensures, even though she is still dumbfounded.

“Good, don’t take anything the man says personally, he’s… what’s the nice way of putting it?” Jeff says, looking reflective.

“I’m assuming you’re looking for the words racist, homophobic and sexist, right?” Britta chimes in. “I see no better way to describe him briefly.”

“I was going to say he’s a particular man but that works too.” Jeff says with a chuckle.

Afterwards, Jeff focuses on Annie and looks her in the eyes. Annie sees a softness in his eyes that she hasn’t seen before. For a second, it unnerves her – it almost looks like Jeff… cares?

“On a serious note though, don’t pay attention to Pierce’s comments.” Jeff gently tells her. “And if you ever feel uncomfortable around him, don’t hesitate to let any of us know. We’re here for each other, after all.”

“Th – thanks, I… I appreciate it.” Annie stammers, surprised.

“Of course.” Jeff tells her with a genuine smile.

Annie is softened by Jeff’s behavior and surprises herself by smiling to him in return. Her heart does yet again another flip in her chest, even though she told herself only a couple of hours ago that she would ignore whatever she is feeling around him. Apparently, it is not going to be easy.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there!
> 
> This chapter is more J/A centered than the previous ones. After all, the story needs to move forward... Anyway, hope you'll like it. I'm very excited to write the next two chapters because I have some funny things planned ahead and it's gonna be full on shenanigans and banters, study group style. You'll see for yourself hehe.
> 
> (As usual, a huge shoutout to the Community Discord #fan-fic channel for being supportive and encouraging. They are the best!)

Annie’s alarm goes off at precisely 6.35 A.M. on this Monday morning. She turns it off right away and grunts before taking off her sleep mask. She jumps into the shower only a few seconds after managing to get up, washes and dries her hair, puts her work’s navy jumpsuit on and after sorting through her bag, she goes to the kitchen as silently as possible in order to have a quick breakfast. As she walks stealthily there, she realizes she doesn’t even know at what time her roommates get up in the morning during the week.

The apartment is peacefully silent this early in the day. However, as she gets to the kitchen, Annie sees a tiny light on. Someone is sitting at the kitchen’s table, drinking a cup of coffee, Annie assumes.

“Hey.” Annie whispers.

When they turn around, Annie recognizes Jeff. She frowns – why is he up so early when he does not have to go to work?

“Hey you.” Jeff whispers back.

“What are you already doing up?” Annie asks, curious.

“I’m going to go for a run.” Jeff briefly answers. “Morning runs when the sun isn’t up yet are the best.”

“It must be.” Annie nods. “I’ve wanted to try jogging a couple of years ago but since I was living in a bad neighborhood… Well, I never got to try.”

“You should come with me sometime.” Jeff casually suggests. “I wouldn’t mind the company.”

“Jeff, your legs are like twice my size, I would have a hard time keeping up with you.” Annie points out in a chuckle.

“I’ll slow down for you.” Jeff teases her.

“Yeah right.” Annie retorts with a smile.

Annie watches Jeff smile at her and really, what can she do about it? There is most definitely a vibe passing between the two of them. Talking to him seems so easy, so natural, and she can’t help herself, she likes it.

Annie feels Jeff’s gaze lingering on her as she makes herself a cup of coffee-to-go and grabs an apple to eat on the bus on her way to work.

“I thought you were more of a cup-of-tea girl.” Jeff suddenly remarks.

“Well, on Monday mornings, coffee’s my new best friend.” Annie retorts lightly.

“I feel you. When I was a lawyer, coffee was my fuel.”

“Do you miss it? Being a lawyer, I mean?”

 _Maybe it is too early for those kind of personal questions_ , Annie thinks. Nevertheless, Jeff does not seem bothered by it and just sighs before answering.

“I don’t know, I… Sometimes I have regrets you know, then other times, I’m thinking… things must happen for a reason.” Jeff answers with a shrug.

“They definitely do. If you’re where you are right now, it must mean there’s something better in store for you. I’m sure of that.” Annie ensures with positivity.

“Thanks, Annie. I hope you’re right.”

They smile at each other and Annie quickly lowers her eyes to focus on pouring her coffee into her travel mug. Besides, she doesn’t dare diving into Jeff’s blue eyes for too long. She isn’t sure she’d be able to resist them if she wasn’t constantly running away from them.

Jeff’s phone suddenly buzzes on the table and Annie is amused by how fast he grabs it to check it. There are a few seconds of silence before Jeff lets out a surprised “huh”, raising his eyebrows.

“Well, um…” Jeff begins, staring at his phone’s screen. “It looks like I’m no longer unemployed.”

“You got a job?” Annie exclaims loudly before realizing she spoke too loud. “That’s amazing! Where?” She asks quietly.

“Your old college, apparently.” Jeff answers with a chortle.

“Wow, congratulations Jeff!” Annie tells him before going over to him and quickly hugging him. “It’s wonderful news. I’m sure you’ll be an amazing teacher.”

“Thanks for all the kind words, Annie.” Jeff says, pouting.

“Are you okay?” Annie asks, frowning. “You look… disappointed.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad and relieved I’ve got a job.” Jeff instantly asserts. “It’s just… I have no idea how to teach.”

“If you got the job, it means you’re more than capable of doing it.” Annie reassures him.

“Again, I hope you’re right.” Jeff chuckles before focusing on his phone’s screen. “The Dean mentions in his e-mail that I can go there this afternoon to sign some paperwork and get a proper tour of the campus.”

“Sounds like a great idea. Maybe you’ll even get to see your future office. I’m excited for you!”

“Thanks. Um… Look, it’s probably going to sound weird but… Would you mind… going there with me?”

Annie stares at Jeff, stunned. She is trying to figure out if he is being serious but from the deadpan look on his face, she assumes he is more than genuine.

“Wh – why?” Annie stammers, confused.

“It’s just… I know it’s going to sound silly but I’d be less nervous if you were here because you already know the campus and… I don’t know, I guess you being here would make me feel… eased.”

Jeff looks really uncomfortable in that moment and even though Annie is starting to be conscious about the fact that she has to leave soon to be on time at work, she softens up and genuinely wants to comfort Jeff.

“Um… My lunchbreak actually lasts two hours so… Maybe I could meet you there around noon and… We can get lunch together while walking around campus?” Annie suggests softly.

“That… would be amazing.” Jeff answers with a smile. “Are you sure you don’t mind? If your workplace is too far from Greendale, I don’t want you to shorten your lunchbreak or anything.”

“It’s fine, Jeff. Really. I’ll say I have an important appointment and… If I clock in a little bit late when I come back from lunchbreak, I’ll clock out a little bit late in the afternoon too. They’re pretty flexible there, they won’t hold that against me.”

Jeff looks sincerely relieved in that instant and Annie’s heart warms up at that realization. She should really get going if she doesn’t want to be late but it looks like her body doesn’t respond to her brain anymore. Because her body wants to stay close to Jeff, which makes her brain rail at that thought.

“Thank you Annie, it means a lot.” Jeff tells her softly. “Um, I don’t think I have your phone number, let me give mine to you, this way you’ll call me once you’re there.”

“Sure.”

Annie and Jeff instantly exchange their phone numbers and Annie then sees what time it is.

“Shit, um, I need to go, I’m going to be late for work.” She winces.

“Sure, sorry for holding you up. See you later.”

“Yeah, see you. I’ll call you.”

They quickly wave at each other before Annie grabs her travel mug and her bag and runs to the door. Once she is out of the building and waiting for the bus, she exhales sharply and gathers her thoughts. She starts to wonder why Jeff wanted her to come with him to Greendale today. How could her presence reassure him? They barely even know each other. Does it mean he trusts her already?

She tries to focus on the present time and figures she’ll find out more when she will be with him at lunch. As she sits down once she is on the bus and puts her earphones on, she suddenly realizes that the way she suggested they could get lunch together almost sounded like… a date proposal. Annie wonders if Jeff thought about the same thing. If he did, at least, he hasn’t mentioned it.

 _Ugh stop overthinking everything_ , _you’re just going to help your roommate out_. Annie thinks to herself. _It’s no big deal. Nothing ambiguous. Just lunch and a tour around campus_. _No biggie._

***

It is almost noon when Annie gets a text from Jeff. She quietly checks her phone after making sure her boss is not around.

 **Jeff Winger, 11.52 A.M**.

_hey Annie it’s Jeff. I’m omw to Greendale right now, should be there in about 30 minutes._

Annie types back to let him know she is going to clock out in a few minutes and meet him there. Once she sends the text, she begins cleaning her desk, turning off her work computer and putting her things in her bag.

“Leaving in a hurry, Edison?”

Annie lifts her head up and sees one of her co-workers above her desk, smiling at her.

“Yeah, I have an appointment in Greendale, I need to get there soon.” Annie briefly explains before standing up.

“Greendale? Hope you won’t get stuck in traffic, do you want to borrow my car?”

“Oh no, it’s okay Steven, thank you so much but I’m going to take the bus.”

“Are you sure? You’ll probably get there faster if you’re driving.”

“I’m pretty sure the bus takes the same road so it’s all the same, in the end, don’t worry.” Annie ensures softly.

“Alright. Well, I was going to ask if you wanted to grab lunch with me and the guys but guess it’ll be for another time.” Steven shrugs.

“Sorry but thanks for the offer. Raincheck tomorrow?” Annie suggests.

“With pleasure.” Steven responds.

Annie smiles at Steven and once everything is set, she waves him goodbye and grabs her bag. She immediately clocks out, walks out of the building and waits for the bus to Greendale. Hopefully, there won’t be too much traffic and she would get there in a few. Even though she told Jeff it wasn’t a big deal if she got back to work a little bit late, Annie Edison hates being late.

When she gets off the bus, Annie immediately faces the Greendale flag and Luiz Gusman’s statue. She chuckles at the memories she has of this place and before her daydreaming takes over, she grabs her phone and calls Jeff.

“Hello?” Jeff picks up after two rings.

“Hi Jeff, it’s Annie.” Annie exclaims. “I just got here.”

“Oh great, I’m in my car in the parking lot.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you there.”

Annie hangs up right away and walks towards the parking lot. She quickly spots Jeff, leaning against his car, looking at his phone. She tries to ignore the fact that he looks even more attractive with sunglasses on and a leather jacket before she calls his name and waves at him. When he looks up, he smiles at her and waves back.

“Hey, didn’t have too much trouble with the bus?” Jeff asks her when she arrives in front of him.

“It was okay. Could’ve been worse.” Annie answers lightly.

“Cool. Um, okay, so I’m meeting with the Dean right now to sign some paperwork, it should only take ten minutes top, and then, we can go to their cafeteria, grab something to go and walk around campus. What do you think?” Jeff suggests.

“Sounds great.” Annie nods.

When Jeff’s car is locked, the both of them start walking towards the administration building. Annie feels weird about going back to Greendale community college, even though she only left it a few months ago. She has this unsettling impression that she was there a long time ago, but at the same time, that she never left.

“Isn’t it weird for you being back here?” Jeff suddenly asks her, as if he just read her mind.

“A little.” Annie admits, chuckling. “But also, it’s comforting to see nothing has changed. Just like old times.”

“Not going to lie, the place looks a bit odd.” Jeff confesses, glaring at a group of old people messing around.

“It is kind of odd but… It also makes you feel like you belong. You’ll see over time.”

“I believe you. Besides, you look like you turned out great so it can’t be that bad.”

Annie laughs at Jeff’s comment and before she can add anything else, they are standing in the Dean’s office. She sees him walking out of it and standing in front of them. At first, it looks like he only notices Jeff.

“Hello Jeffrey, glad you could make it.” The Dean tells Jeff before shaking his hand.

“Thank you for the opportunity you’re giving me, Mister Pelton.” Jeff says politely.

“Of course, you were, by far, our best candidate for this job.” The Dean says with a light chuckle. “And please, call me Craig.”

Only then does he notice Annie’s presence next to Jeff. He lays eyes on her and frowns, visibly surprised to see her here.

“Oh, hello Miss Edison.” The Dean greets her half-heartedly. “What can I do for you? I don’t believe we’ve received official diplomas yet, and you’ve already come to collect your temporary certificate, if I recall.”

“I have but actually, I’m here with Jeff.” Annie explains with a polite smile.

“Oh.” The Dean exclaims, visibly taken aback. “I see. I didn’t realize you two knew each other.”

“It’s very recent actually, Annie moved into my apartment last week.” Jeff says.

“Really? Wow, what a small world.” The Dean laughs. “Oh, I suppose congratulations are in order, then.”

“For… Jeff’s job?” Annie asks, confused.

“Well, for that too obviously, but I meant for your moving-in together. It’s a huge step in a relationship, I’ve heard.”

“Oh no we’re –“ Annie begins, blushing.

“It’s not –“Jeff says at the same time.

“We’re not dating.” Annie finishes, laughing nervously.

“We’re just roommates.” Jeff adds, scraping the back of his neck.

“Yeah, just roommates.” Annie repeats, nodding too vigorously.

“O-kay…” The Dean slowly says, raising his eyebrows. “So that means you’re single, Jeffrey?”

“Like I’ve told you the first three times you’ve asked me that question during my interview, yes, I am.” Jeff answers in a sarcastic tone.

“Very well. It’s just for our… records, you know. It’s important we know our employees.” The Dean ensures.

“Sure.” Jeff says, frowning.

There is an awkward silence that lasts for a few seconds before the Dean clears his throat and turns around to face his secretary.

“Alright, Agnes, would you be a dear and hand me the contract our new law teacher, Mister Winger, has to sign, please?” He asks politely.

Annie then steps aside and sits down on a chair in the waiting area while Jeff and the Dean deal with all of the paperwork. When everything is done, Annie stands up and both she and Jeff walk out of the administration building at once to get to the cafeteria and buy some lunch. Jeff takes a low-carb Caesar salad to go while Annie chooses a quinoa bowl. Then, they go outside and sit down on a bench to eat and enjoy the sunny weather.

“Thanks for paying for lunch, Jeff.” Annie says as she starts eating.

“Are you kidding? I made you come all the way from Denver over your lunchbreak, it’s the least I could do.” Jeff tells her.

“Either way, I appreciate it.” Annie says with a smile.

“Well, I appreciate you.” Jeff retorts. “Being here… I mean.”

Annie softly laughs and decides not to pick up on the fact that Jeff added the last part a few seconds after his statement, as if he wasn’t originally planning on explaining it. She pushes her hair back, cheeks slightly flushed and silence settles as they both eat their food. When they are done, they throw the boxes away in the nearest trash and start wandering around campus. Annie tries to show Jeff the most important places on campus, sadly, she has to speed up because it is already 1.15 P.M. and she will soon have to take the bus back to work.

“And here, we have the library!” Annie announces while standing in front of said library. “It is pretty new so there are lots of useful things here. In the same area, you have some of the study rooms. I think they are for students primarily but maybe you can use them, if need be.”

“Awesome. Thank you Annie, you’ve been really helpful today.”

“Of course. I don’t think we’ll have time to see everything but –“

“I think I’ll manage, I’m planning on staying here this afternoon to get acquainted quickly, don’t worry about me.” Jeff interrupts her with certainty, a smile on his face. “Even though it’s ridiculously sweet.”

Annie starts chuckling nervously and pushes her hair back before moistening her lower lip and looking all around her.

“Okay then… I think I’m going to catch the earliest bus back to Denver now.” Annie says while taking a peek at the library’s clock.

“Do you want me to drive you there?” Jeff instantly suggests.

“Oh no, you’d have an hour long round-trip, I don’t want to be an inconvenience.” Annie replies right away.

“Annie you’re doing the round-trip yourself for me, let me do the same thing for you. I really don’t mind.” Jeff asserts.

Annie takes a moment to consider it, a little bit embarrassed that Jeff is offering to drive her there and driving back right after. While she reflects, someone she knows walks past them and she immediately calls them without thinking.

“Hey Senor Chang!”

Annie looks at Ben Chang turning around and looking at her. It looks like he does not recognize her, considering how he is glaring at her.

“Senor?” Jeff repeats with a tone of sarcasm.

“He was my Spanish teacher back in my freshman year here.” Annie explains lightly. “Then he became a student himself.”

“Yeah, unfortunately.” Chang flatly says as he now stands in front of them. “Hey Annie, what’s popping?”

“Well, I got a job at Denver –“

“Actually, I don’t care.” Chang interrupts her rudely. “I have a knitting class to go to.”

“Oh sweet, there are extracurricular activities too, sounds fun.” Jeff points out sincerely.

Chang then looks at Jeff like he is going to punch him, which disrupts Jeff for a moment.

“Wait… Don’t tell me knitting is an _actual_ class?” Jeff then asks, concerned.

“Of course it is, Mister Big-Forehead.” Chang tells him in a haughty way. “And today is our first test of the semester, so, if you’ll excuse me dumb-dumbs, I have some A to score and some fart-face Garrett to beat.”

With no further ado, Ben Chang then bows grotesquely and turns around to walk in the other direction. Jeff stares at him, dumbfounded.

“Chang is a… unique person, as you can see.” Annie sums up awkwardly.

“Okay… This place definitely looks weird.” Jeff comments out loud. “I guess I won’t get bored, at least.”

Afterwards, Annie and Jeff both walk up to Jeff’s car. Annie eventually agrees to let him drive her back to work, even though she remains reluctant to the idea.

“I’m serious Jeff, I’m embarrassed to make you drive me there if you were planning on staying here this afternoon.” Annie insists while sitting on the passenger’s seat.

“You’re not making me drive you there Annie, I offered, it’s really not a problem.” Jeff retorts once he is sitting in the driver’s seat. “See it as a way of thanking you for showing me around my new workplace today.”

Annie no longer complains and right away, Jeff starts the engine and they quickly get on the highway to Denver. Annie starts making small talks, to which Jeff participates voluntarily. They don’t talk about exciting stuff, mostly about their jobs, their hobbies and mundane things like that. Nonetheless, Annie is feeling surprisingly comfortable talking to Jeff and their conversation is actually very interesting, which is why she almost feels disappointed when Jeff pulls over in front of her workplace’s building.

“See? I didn’t even see time go by.” Jeff tells her with a smile.

“Thank you so much, it was nice today.” Annie gently says.

“Yeah… It was. We should do it more often.”

“Having a tour around Greendale’s campus? It’ll get boring soon.” Annie teases him with a smile.

“I like your humor, Annie.” Jeff lets her know after chuckling at her joke.

Before Annie gets out of the car, she remembers something she wanted to ask Jeff and just like that, she freezes, her hand on the door’s handle.

“Is everything okay?” Jeff asks her.

“Yeah, I was just… I was wondering why you needed me to come with you today.” Annie bluntly confesses. “I mean, I didn’t mind, it was fun showing you around campus. But… We’ve known each other for a total of three days and a half so… I guess it surprised me when you asked me to be there for you this morning.”

“I see.” Jeff nods, moistening his lips. “Well… To be honest, I… I was actually kind of nervous to go there.”

“Why?” Annie asks in a soft voice.

“Because… I was so good at being a lawyer, you know? It’s like the only thing I ever really mastered in my professional life and… Now that I don’t have it anymore and that I basically need to start all over… I guess it’s freaking me out a little.”

Annie sympathizes with Jeff in this moment. She puts aside everything she is feeling towards him – attraction, confusion, annoyance sometimes even – and focuses on his own feelings, because even though they’ve only known each other for three days and a half, she surprisingly cares about him and wants to help him, in any way she can.

“Well… I can’t say that I understand because it’s never happened to me but… I see where you’re coming from.” Annie tells him. “And it’s completely okay to feel confused, lost, scared, even. It’s a new step in your life and whatever it is, new is always scary. _I_ was scared when I moved in with you guys. It’s normal. But hey, I’m sure you’ll do great at this new job because you look like someone who cares and honestly, what’s a better quality for a teacher than this?”

Annie means every word she says and she wants to make sure Jeff feels that way too. When she is done talking, she locks eyes with him and sees the same softness and consideration she has seen the night before. For a second, their eye-contact is so intense she feels a shiver running down her spine.

“You’re amazing, Annie.” Jeff suddenly tells her. “Thank you. For everything you did today.”

“Of course. Anytime.” Annie softly says.

It is when both Annie and Jeff have a hard time breaking their eye-contact that she realizes how screwed she actually is and how intense the connection between them is.

“I should, um… I should go, it’s almost 2.” Annie whispers unwillingly.

“Yeah… Um, thank you again. And… see you tonight, I guess.” Jeff says hesitantly.

Annie simply smiles and gets out of the car after grabbing her bag. She starts walking away and as she hears the engine starting again, she turns around to watch Jeff backtracking and driving away. She exhales sharply and shakes her head from left to right. If only she could be in control of her emotions but these were apparently keen on going rogue.

As she is clocking in for the rest of the afternoon, Annie feels her phone buzzing into her bag. She takes it out and sees she has an unread message from Britta. Frowning, she wonders what her roommate could want.

**Britta Perry, 2.01 P.M.**

_hey roommie, u down for a girls night on Friday? Actually, let me rephrase that – we’re having a girls night on Friday! Prepare to have fuuuun!_


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! New chapter is here.
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy it. I originally thought about having one chapter for this storyline but I've decided to split it into two chapters, otherwise it would've been too long haha. Hope you'll enjoy it!
> 
> (As usual, a huge thanks to the people over the Community Discord #fan-fics channel for helping me brainstorm and being supportive, they're the best!)

Annie’s first week in the apartment with her roommates went by quicker than she expected. It is already Friday afternoon when Annie gets a notification from her phone’s calendar at work.

**_DON’T FORGET: Girls night tonight!_ **

Annie chuckles as she puts her phone down. Britta has insisted she set a reminder on her phone, even though Annie assured she would not forget about their girls’ night. Apparently, it means a lot to Britta, therefore, Annie has silently decided to play along.

Nothing too exciting has happened this past week. Annie went to work every day and in a couple of hours, it will finally be the weekend. In a way, she is looking forward to her night out with Britta – apparently, she wants to take her to her favorite bar downtown, which happens to have karaoke nights on Fridays. There will only be the two of them, thus, it will be the perfect occasion to get to know one another better. With Abed, Troy and Jeff in the apartment every night, Britta and Annie barely have had time to have some private conversations and Annie realized she could use some.

During this week in her new apartment, every night she came home from work, a little ritual started to settle, as Abed would call it. She would chat for a few minutes around a cup of tea with Britta, then, she would watch two new episodes of _Empire_ , the TV show they’ve started together, with Abed – and Troy if he happened to be around –, afterwards she would grab dinner, sometimes with her roommates, sometimes alone, and finally, before going to bed, she would meet Jeff in the bathroom for their nightly routine and they would stay there for a long time, sometimes even an hour, casually talking to each other. Every single thing about this ritual that she is settling into is very nice. She loves bonding with her roommates and feeling like she belongs. However, Annie does not particularly like the fact that the more time she spends with Jeff, the heavier the butterflies in her stomach are.

In conclusion, going out with Britta and only Britta that night is the perfect occasion to let it go. To think about something else, maybe even to meet someone she can flirt with and then forget about the minute she comes home. Maybe it can finally help her overcome how she is feeling about Jeff. Because she really doesn’t want to feel those butterflies anymore.

When it finally is 6 P.M., Annie clocks out of work and grabs all of her things before exiting the building and getting on the bus home. When she arrives to the apartment, she unlocks the door and some music immediately resonates in her ears. She quickly walks into the apartment and closes the door behind her in order to avoid bothering the neighbors. Annie then sees Britta, Troy, Abed and Jeff, all sitting together. Britta and Jeff are next to each other, both holding a beer in their hands, unlike Troy and Abed, who hold a glass of red wine and are sitting on the opposite couch.

“Hey, Annie’s here!” Britta suddenly exclaims when she notices her roommate.

“Yay!” Troy shouts, visibly excited.

“Hi everyone.” Annie laughs while she moves closer to them. “Looks like I’ve missed the party.”

“Oh no, you’re right on time, it’s just getting started.” Britta ensures while tapping the free spot next to her. “Come and sit with us!”

“Is girls’ night cancelled for tonight?” Annie asks as she is sitting down.

“Of course not!” Britta gasps, as if she took offence. “This, my lady friend, is what we call a pre-drink party.”

“Britta’s goal is to get tipsy before you guys leave the apartment because it’s cheaper than buying lots of drinks at the bar.” Jeff explains to Annie in pretend confidence, even though he leans over Britta to talk to Annie.

“Hey I can hear you!” Britta rails at Jeff before laughing. “But yeah, that is definitely the plan.”

“Fancy some no-no juice, Miss Annie?” Troy then asks Annie solemnly.

“Some what?” Annie bluntly asks, befuddled.

“Red wine.” Britta whispers in Annie’s ear.

“Oh. Um… I don’t know, I was initially going to take a shower and change clothes before we go out.” Annie winces.

“You can still do that after you’ve had a glass of wine.” Jeff points out with a smirk.

“Yeah Annie, we can even go to the bathroom together if you want.” Britta suddenly blurts out. “It’ll be quick –“

“Wow that escalated quickly!” Jeff interrupts her, eyes widened and a large smile on his face. “And you haven’t even gotten out together yet.”

“Shut up, you old perv!” Britta protests before kicking Jeff with a cushion. “I meant at the same time, you should really clean that dirty mind of yours.”

“It’s not my fault your phrasing is ambiguous.” Jeff retorts. “Besides, Annie is definitely your type.”

“Yeah, well, she’s definitely your type too.” Britta taunts Jeff.

A beat. An awkward silence settles in as Annie’s cheeks turn bright red while Abed and Troy share a look and very obviously try not to burst out laughing. Jeff glares at Britta, who has a smug look on her face.

“Way to kill the mood, Perry.” Jeff grumbles before taking a sip of his beer.

“What? I was just stating the obvious.” Britta says innocently, even though she is clearly doing it on purpose.

“Anyway, I told Duncan I’d go to his apartment to watch the football game.” Jeff says before finishing his beer and standing up. “Have fun tonight. Annie, make sure Britta doesn’t do something too embarrassing, we’ve already been banned from too many bars in the city.”

“Don’t exaggerate, we’ve been banned from this _one_ bar and excuse me for trying to dismantle capitalism and do justice for minimum wages!” Britta revolts.

“Sure but you could’ve done that without standing up on the counter and screaming obnoxiously.” Jeff contradicts. “Now, we can’t get the best tacos in town anymore.”

“Those tacos were really good, it’s a shame.” Abed chimes in, pouting.

“Ugh fine, come on Annie, these guys are a bummer, let’s go get ready.” Britta says before standing up.

“So you’re not going to have some no-no juice Annie?” Troy reiterates, apparently disappointed.

“I’m good, thanks.” Annie awkwardly answers.

“Alright, see you later guys!” Jeff says before going out of the apartment.

Annie promptly follows Britta towards her bedroom and the two women separate ways as Britta goes straight to her room and Annie immediately goes to the bathroom. She takes a shower and when she is done, she wraps a towel around her naked body and comes out of the bathroom to go back to her bedroom. Once she is there and looking through her wardrobe for an outfit to wear, she is distracted enough to be startled by Britta’s voice coming from behind her.

“Oops sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” Britta says with a grimace.

“It’s okay.” Annie sighs, turning around to face her.

“Do you need help picking out an outfit?” Britta suggests while looking at Annie’s open wardrobe. “I have to tell you, I’m not the ‘girliest’ girl you’ll meet in your life, I wasn’t friends with lots of girls growing up so I might miss out on some social clues regarding girls’ nights, but I can still try.”

“Well… Actually, I didn’t have many girls’ night in my life before, so I’m not one to judge.” Annie confesses with a sad smile.

“Sounds like a conversation that we need to have during girls’ night, then.” Britta points out, winking.

Annie chuckles and turns back around to face her wardrobe.

“I think I’m going to go with a dress.” Annie sighs distractingly.

“Sounds about right.” Britta approves. “Oh, you should definitely wear fishnet black tights with that, I have really cute and classy ones, let me get them!”

Suddenly excited, Britta runs out of Annie’s room to get back to hers and get the item she wants to lend to Annie. In the meantime, Annie loses the towel and quickly gets dressed before Britta comes back. She slips on some unmatched underwear before putting on a stretchy cocktail-party black dress with flared sleeves falling graciously above her elbows. By the time Britta is back, Annie has finished adjusting her dress.

“Wow, hottie alert!” Britta exclaims when she sees Annie.

“Thanks.” Annie chuckles. “Right back at you.”

Britta pretends to curtsey solemnly as a thank you, which makes Annie laugh. As for her outfit, Britta is wearing some black leather pants and a grey top with a sleeveless jean jacket on it. She has some black boots with short high heels. Finally, she straightened her hair, plus, some eyeliner and mascara sublimate her eyes.

“Here, you can put those on.” Britta says before throwing some black tights towards Annie.

Annie instantly slips into these tights and eventually puts some black boots on. She makes a little spin on herself when she is ready before looking in the mirror.

“Maybe I should put some makeup on?” Annie wonders while looking at her reflection.

“With that dress, you should definitely put some lipstick on.” Britta tells her. “You’d look ravishingly hot.”

Annie’s lips turn into a light smile at Britta’s comment and she decides to listen to her advice. After taking a red lipstick out of her vanity laying on her dresser, she delicately applies it on her lips. When she is done, she makes a little “pop!” sound with her mouth to apply it properly and she turns back around to face Britta.

“Damn Annie.” Britta tells her with a smirk. “On your way to break some hearts tonight.”

“On my way to have a fun night out with my roommate, you mean.” Annie corrects, smiling.

“I like where your head’s at, young lady.” Britta says approvingly.

Afterwards, Britta and Annie grab their jackets and purses before heading towards the apartment’s front door. Annie sees Abed and Troy still in the living-room, apparently playing some cards game.

“We’re leaving, guys.” Britta announces. “See you later, have fun!”

“Bye.” Abed and Troy simultaneously respond without bothering to look up.

Britta shrugs, unmoved by their carelessness and no sooner said, she opens the front door and steps outside, followed by Annie.

The minute the door is closed, Troy and Abed throw their cards on the table and look at each other meaningfully.

“We still on for the secret mission tonight, Constable?” Abed asks in a fake British accent.

“We sure are, Inspector.” Troy responds the same way.

***

Jeff is carelessly watching the football game on TV at Duncan’s, even though these kind of nights represent everything he likes about a Friday night – some beers to drink, a couple of friends to hang out with, a good football game to watch on a plasma screen… Yet, Jeff’s mind is somewhere else and he is not able to focus properly on what is happening on screen.

“Are you alright mate?” Ian suddenly asks Jeff. “You look a bit peaky.”

“I’m okay.” Jeff simply answers, looking distractingly at the screen.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Ian insists.

“Are you trying to therapize me, Duncan?” Jeff then asks with an ounce of irony.

“Of course not, I’m not one to mix personal and professional life.” Ian ensures confidently. “Just making sure my very good friend Jeffrey is feeling good.”

“Good. Because I’m not sure you’d be interested in free therapy anyway, a man’s got to eat, right?” Jeff teases.

“I no longer have any secret for you, Sir.” Ian jokes back.

Jeff and Ian briefly laugh in unison before clinking their cans of beer together. Jeff tries to fully focus on the game but he can feel like Ian is eager to talk to him about something.

“What is it?” Jeff asks him to throw him a line.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean, Jeff.” Ian tells him confusingly.

“Come on, you’re obviously dying to talk to me about something.” Jeff says, rolling his eyes. “Go ahead.”

“It’s nothing, really. I was simply wondering what your thoughts were regarding your… new flat-mate.” Ian then confesses innocently.

“You’ve met Annie?” Jeff asks, amused by his friend’s pretend casual tone.

“I have, indeed. I ran into her and Britta in the elevator last week. Good Lord, by the way, must I say, that woman is a true angel who fell down from Heaven.” Ian suddenly sighs, looking dreamy.

“Who, Annie or Britta?” Jeff pokes him.

“Come on Jeff, I’m obviously talking about the woman of my life.”

“I know that. I don’t know what scares me the most though – the fact that I’m perfectly aware you’re not even being sarcastic or the fact that you believe in such things as a ‘woman of your life’.”

“Not everyone is a grumpy cynical old fart like yourself, Jeffrey.”

“Thanks Duncan, I appreciate the compliment.”

“Alright now, on a more serious note, the second I’ve met that lovely Annie girl, I’ve assumed you must have –“

“I really don’t want to go down that road, Ian.” Jeff interrupts Ian seriously. “No matter what I think about her, Annie’s my roommate now. We have strict rules regarding our roommates since Emma left.”

“I’m aware of that, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t have a certain opinion on the matter, does it?”

Jeff lowers his eyes to look at the can of beer he is slowly rolling between his hands, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Ian is so invested in his job that he does not even realize when he is subconsciously doing it.

“We… definitely clicked when we met.” Jeff confesses after a few seconds of silence. “She’s really pretty – hot, even. And she’s smart. And funny. And sweet.”

“It all sounds very promising.”

“ _But_ she’s my roommate. She’s off limits.”

“I can definitely understand your previous relationship with Emma affected you and has left an unpleasant memory rubbing on your skin.”

“Yeah… I still tried to kiss Annie after we played True American, though.” Jeff confesses, wincing. “Drunk Jeff is definitely not reliable.”

“Well… That was quick.” Ian admits, eyes widened. “Although I can’t really blame you, that rubbish game of yours is utter nonsense and it just makes you completely plastered by the time you’ve finally grasped the concept.”

“I know, right? I keep telling that to Abed and Troy but they say I’m just being cynical.”

“In their defense, it can be quite your specialty.”

“Ha-ha-ha.” Jeff pretends to laugh. “Anyway, Annie’s really great but nothing’s going to happen.”

Ian is about to answer when three loud knocks are made on the front door of his apartment. Both he and Jeff stare at the door, unsettled.

“Are we expecting someone else?” Jeff asks, frowning.

“I don’t believe so.” Ian answers, visibly confused.

“Oh, I maaay have mentioned we were having a party here tonight for the football game.”

Ian and Jeff simultaneously turn around to look at Ben Chang, who is sitting on a barstool behind them, a phone in hand and a grimace on his face.

“Remind me how you know this guy again and why the hell you invited him tonight?” Jeff abruptly asks Ian.

***

Britta told Annie she will take her to her favorite bar in town. When they get there, Annie decides to carefully observe her surroundings. She still does not know Britta by heart, however, she can already say the place looks like somewhere her roommate would definitely be fond of. The only negative point Annie can note at the moment is how loud the music is.

“So?” Britta yells to cover the music. “What do you think?”

“It’s… nice.” Annie yells back, her vocal chords already hurting her.

“Follow me, I know the best spot in here.”

After pointing towards a certain direction, Britta starts walking again, making Annie quickly follow her steps. They both go to the other side of the bar and then, Britta opens a door that leads them to a different room. There, the music is much quieter and Annie notices the atmosphere also seems a little bit different. On their right, a bartender awaits behind what looks like a cocktail bar.

“Better, huh?” Britta then says in a normal voice.

“Yeah.” Annie sighs with a smile.

“Come with me.” Britta urges her before taking Annie’s hand in hers.

They both walk towards the bar and when the bartender acknowledges their presence, he gives them a polite smile along with an inquisitive look.

“What can I get you, ladies?” He asks cheerfully.

“I’ll have a Manhattan, please.” Britta answers right away. “Reminds me of the time I used to live in New-York.” Britta says confidently to Annie, looking proud. “Annie, what’s your fuel?”

“Um… I don’t really know, actually, I haven’t thought about it yet.” Annie admits in a wince.

“It’s okay, take your time.” The bartender reassures her with a smile. “You look like a gin-tonic kind of girl, though. Am I right?”

Annie can hear in that man’s tone that he is being flirtatious with her. She subconsciously twirls a strand of hair around her finger at that realization and smiles nervously. He probably does it on a regular basis to appeal to customers and encourage them to buy drinks, regardless, his intense gaze is enough to unsettle her.

“I uh… I’m not a fan of gin, actually.” Annie contradicts. “I’ll have a pina colada, please.” Annie eventually orders.

“Coming right up.” The bartender says before winking at Annie.

The second he turns around to prepare their cocktails, Britta grabs Annie’s arm and gets her closer to her in order to whisper confidentially in her ear.

“He’s totally hitting on you, you’ve realized that, right?” Britta then asks.

“I kind of figured, yeah.” Annie answers with a chuckle.

“Told ya you were going to break some hearts tonight.” Britta recalls with a wink.

Annie laughs, because even though that handsome bartender flirting with her can be pleasant and boost her ego, the only thing she truly appreciates in this instant is being at a bar, ready to have a good time and possibly even some fun with her roommate, who will probably become a friend soon. Annie has been lacking a genuine feminine friendship since she went to rehab and feeling like she can truly bond with Britta fills her with hope and satisfaction.

“So what do you want to do tonight?” Britta then asks cheerfully. “Abed’s given me a list of tropes for girls night that they do in movies. The first one is ‘getting drunk’, obviously. The second one is ‘drunk-dialing an ex’, I surely hope we’ll skip that one.”

“Yeah, me too.” Annie laughs.

“It can probably be one of the things we’ll do tonight – talking about our exes.” Britta suggests, looking reflective. “I believe it was on the tropes’ list too. Although I did point out to Abed that it was kind of sexist, like, why do girls going out together must talk about their love life? It’s obviously not the only thing we have in our lives, we can talk about plenty of other stuff.”

“I definitely agree. But I have to admit conversations usually end up around our love life, to be honest.” Annie says, shrugging.

“Yeah… We’ll see about that. I mean, I know _I_ won’t talk about it until there’s, like, at least three full glasses of cocktails running through my system.”

Annie chuckles at Britta’s joke and at the same time, her glass of Pina Colada along with Britta’s glass of Manhattan land right in front of them on the counter. While they grab it, Annie thanks yet again the bartender, who responds by putting what looks like his most charming grin on his face. She smirks in return and quickly turns around to look for a table where she can sit with Britta. Annie spots one in the corner of the room and instantly walks towards it, followed by Britta. They both sit down at the same time, Annie on one bench seat and Britta on the other one. When they face each other, they sigh in unison.

“T.G.I.F., right?” Britta points out.

“Agreed.” Annie approves, nodding. “You’re not working on the weekends, are you?”

“Oh no I’m not, the practice’s closed on Saturdays and Sundays.” Britta answers. “Although it happens from time to time that a client calls me if they’re having important issues. The funny thing is, at the beginning of my career, I made the mistake of giving my personal phone number because helping people is important to me, but when I quickly realized that some people were crossing boundaries and calling me at any time of the day – and I mean literally _any_ time, even if it was three in the morning –, I decided to get a work phone and now I’m only giving this number, and only to a few people, though, like the ones I fear for.”

“That’s very considerate of you.” Annie says, genuinely impressed.

“Well, I’m a therapist after all, consideration is an important, nay, necessary aspect of my job.” Britta points out with a smile.

“Either way, it’s great that you’re giving yourself out there and helping your clients even in your time off work.”

“I guess not everyone would do that, indeed.”

Annie smiles and grabs her drink to take a sip. Before she can bring it to her lips, Britta urges her to stop by waving at her rapidly with both of her hands.

“What is it?” Annie asks, concerned.

“Let’s make a toast first!” Britta exclaims before grabbing her own drink.

Britta softly lifts her glass in the air afterwards, so Annie mimics her right away. As they are both holding their glasses up, Britta clears her throat and gives Annie a meaningful look.

“To our very first roomies slash girls night together, and hopefully, not the last one!” Britta announces joyfully.

“Cheers!” Annie and Britta simultaneously say before clinking their glasses together.

As they start discussing random topics and casually talking and laughing while enjoying their cocktails, Britta and Annie are certainly not aware that two men are watching them through binoculars from outside, hiding behind bushes.

“You’ve had them for two minutes already, it’s my turn Abed!”

“We can’t stay here spying on them all night, Troy. We need to get closer.”

“I thought we didn’t want them to see us because they’d get mad.”

“We don’t. But it doesn’t mean we can’t approach them without being recognized.”

“Okay… We should pretend to be someone else, then. From now on, call me… Um… Oh, I know! Call me Donald… Grover.” Troy suggests happily.

“Hmm. I don’t know if that’s believable enough but sure.” Abed pouts.

“What are _you_ going to choose, Mister Smart Head?” Troy asks with a tone of sarcasm.

Abed looks deadpan for a second before staring intensely into the distance. Troy tries to look in the same direction as Abed but he quickly realizes that Abed is not looking at anything in particular.

“The name is Bond. James… Bond.” Abed suddenly says in a raspy voice.

“And _my_ nickname isn’t believable enough?” Troy exclaims, visibly shocked.

“That was a joke, Troy. Keep up.” Abed tells him flatly. “Alright, operation ‘finding-out-why-Britta-and-Annie-went-out-without-us-tonight’ is on.”

“That’s a long ass name for a secret mission.” Troy sighs before following Abed into the bar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A special thanks to Amrywiol who helped me with the cocktails' choice - and who gave me the New-York wink!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the new chapter!!
> 
> I had such a good time writing it. Me lovey some wholesome moments between our girls Annie and Britta. I really hope you'll like it, please don't hesitate to let me know what you think of it, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated :)
> 
> (As usual, a huge thanks to the Community Discord #fan-fic channel for helping me brainstorm and motivate me. They are the best!)

It has been a long time since Annie had this much fun. The music makes her want to dance, the taste of her sweet fruity cocktail leaves a warmth in her chest, the good mood around her is exquisitely contagious… Even during her college years, which are supposed to be the funniest and boldest years of one’s life, partying and going out have never been as enjoyable as it is that night, with her roommate Britta, at her favorite bar.

“Oh my God, and then there was this one time the elevator was broken – again – and Troy had to come down the stairs at the same time as Shirley, and she tried so hard to figure out if him and Abed were having an ‘out-of-marriage relationship’, and Troy was so embarrassed.” Britta babbles, her voice starting to quaver.

“Is Shirley really _that_ nosy?” Annie asks, trying to focus despite being tipsy.

“Are you kidding? She wants to know everything about everyone. I’m honestly surprised she still hasn’t come by the apartment since you moved in to figure out more about you.” Britta points out.

“Maybe she will soon. Don’t worry, I won’t eat whatever food she brings.” Annie ensures when she notices Britta quickly opening her mouth.

“Trust me, it’s for your well-being.” Britta says jokingly.

“Okay, I think I’m going to get another Cherry Daiquiri, those are so good.” Annie suddenly exclaims, feeling motivated. “Do you want one?”

“Hmm, thanks but I’ll pass. Those bring back unpleasant memories…” Britta answers with a look of disgust on her face. “However, another drink would be more than welcomed. Can you get me a vodka neat with olives, please? Four, to be precise.”

“Four olives or four vodkas?” Annie asks naively.

When Britta suddenly bursts out laughing at Annie’s question, she understands how stupid it actually was and starts laughing heartily as well.

“Say no more.” Annie immediately adds, still laughing.

Afterwards, she stands up and walks towards the bar, where more people are crowding in than when they arrived a couple of hours ago. Annie makes her way through the tiny crowd clumped in front of the counter before she can finally face the bartender.

“Hey, can I get another Cherry Daiquiri and a vodka neat with… four olives, please?” Annie asks, trying to remember Britta’s order correctly.

“Sure thing, honey.” The bartender confirms playfully.

Annie smiles at him by way of thanking him and silently watches him as he turns around and starts preparing the girls’ cocktails. Since they have arrived, each time they wanted to order another drink, Britta made Annie go to the counter because the bartender seems fond of her. The more alcohol there is in her system, the more Annie starts to believe her. And the more tempted she is to play along.

“So… how long have you been working here?” Annie then asks the bartender when he turns back around to face her.

“A year or so, I think.” He replies, looking reflective. “I’m pretty sure it’s the first time I’ve seen you here, by the way.”

“How can you be so sure? You must see so many different people all the time.” Annie retorts.

“Trust me, if you’d already come here before, I would’ve definitely remembered it.” The bartender contradicts in a smooth voice.

Annie’s lips slowly turn into a smile as she lowers her eyes, flattered. Well, Britta seems to be right, he is most definitely being flirtatious with her.

“I’m Adam, by the way.” The bartender then adds.

“Annie.” She introduces herself right away.

“Very nice to meet you, Annie. Hope I’ll see you around more often in the future.”

“Maybe you will.” Annie responds playfully.

With no further ado, Adam gives Annie two colorful glasses with a terribly charming smile on his face. She lays some cash on the counter in exchange for the drinks and tries to smile as teasingly as possible before turning around and walking back to Britta, holding one glass in each of her hands. When she sits back down to her spot, she can tell her roommate is looking expectantly at her.

“What is it?” Annie asks in a pretend clueless tone.

“Annie, am I going to go home alone tonight?” Britta then asks in a playful voice.

“Britta!” Annie exclaims, gasping and laughing. “Of course not, I’m not that kind of girl.”

“Why do you say it like it’s a bad thing? If you want to get it, please go get it, girl.” Britta retorts in a funny voice. “Trust me, if there’s got to be someone that will absolutely never judge you on this, it’s got to be me.”

“I’m not scared of judgement. Well, I’m not anymore, at least.” Annie corrects right away. “It’s not about that, it’s just… I never did _this_ before and I’m not sure I want to ever try it.”

“A one-night stand, you mean?” Britta tries to clarify.

Annie nods to avoid confirming that out loud. It should not be shameful for her to say, but after figuring out that Britta seems very comfortable with her own sexuality, Annie almost feels like a prude. After all, the only men she has slept with in her life are her high school’s boyfriend who later turned out to be gay and her ex-boyfriend in college, Vaughn. All in all, both of them were not phenomenal experiences, if Annie is being completely honest with herself. Therefore, she feels like her intimate life is rather boring and not very thrilling. Unlike Britta’s, so it seems.

“I mean… There’s a first time for everything.” Britta says teasingly.

“I don’t know Britta, I… What if he’s a serial killer?” Annie points out, looking towards the bartender.

“From a psychological point of view, I think the chances are very low.” Britta responds reflectively. “But who knows, he can be a guy who shakes some cocktails by day and a fetishist by night.”

“Eww.” Annie lets out, wincing.

“I’m kidding, don’t worry. To be honest, my time working as a bartender during college to earn a little extra money allowed me to discover this mysterious world that is the nightlife and in retrospect, you end up being flirty with waaay too many people to make them buy more drinks. And also because it’s kind of funny.”

“Oh. So you think that’s what Adam’s doing with me?”

“Adam?? You even got to find out this bartender’s little name?” Britta immediately teases, visibly amused.

“Didn’t even have to ask.” Annie teases back with a smirk.

“Wow. I’m impressed.” Britta confesses, nodding slowly as a form of approval. “Ooh you know what was on Abed’s movie trope list?”

“I don’t but I have a feeling I’m about to find out.” Annie answers honestly, with a brief chuckle.

“Truth or dare.” Britta whispers before smiling excitingly.

“Oh God. I’m scared. Those never end well.” Annie points out with a grimace.

Annie is not aware of it yet, but as someone walks behind them to head towards the bathroom, hiding in an absurd disguise, Abed nods as a smile tugs at the corners of his mouth.

***

“If I had known your ‘casual football night’ would turn into a raging party, I wouldn’t have come, Ian.”

“Oh come on Jeff, loosen up a little bit and take that poker out of your arse.”

“Classy.”

Ian bows his head at Jeff, which makes him laugh with his mouth closed. He can barely hear what his friend is saying over the deafening sound of the music some guy nicknamed Magnitude has put on. It is too loud but Jeff does not say anything about it, because he knows the building’s superintendent will get wind of what is happening in Ian’s apartment and will probably barge in at any second to complain and threaten to kick him out. It has already happened a couple of times in the past since Jeff moved in the building. It is usually entertaining to watch, especially when Ian tries to defend himself and the drunker he is, the more his British slang takes over his way of speaking.

Just when this thought crosses his mind, Jeff realizes he is not very sober himself. The soft beers were quickly replaced by something stronger that Jeff has already forgotten the name of and it is starting to kick in. Out of habit, he takes his phone out of his back pocket to check if he has any new messages or missed phone calls. But obviously, it is Friday night and who would text or call him at this moment of the week?

Without being able to prevent it, Jeff thinks of Britta and Annie, who went out together. He wonders what they are doing. Considering what time it is, Britta is probably drunk enough to try to revolutionize the world – and sing _What’s Up_ by 4 Non Blondes on the karaoke stage. As for Annie… Jeff can’t pretend he knows her well enough to anticipate the way she would act on a night out, as he is able to do with Britta. Maybe Annie is singing a duet on a Spice Girls’ song with Britta? Maybe she is drinking, maybe she isn’t? Maybe some guys are hitting on her?

“Ugh, why am I even thinking about this…” Jeff mumbles to himself.

“What’s that, dude?”

Jeff turns around to face this crazy guy Chang, who is sitting on a table next to a beer keg. He is looking suspiciously at Jeff, as if he is trying to gauge him.

“Why are you even wearing that?” Jeff asks Chang, staring at his beanie. “It’s like eighty degrees here.”

“Why don’t you answer my question first, Paul Bunyan?” Chang retorts haughtily, referring to Jeff’s height.

“God, you are so weird, Chang.” Jeff sighs, immediately walking away.

As he is about to get to the bathroom, Ian suddenly bursts in front of Jeff, out of breath.

“I believe my soul has just left my body.” Ian manages to tell Jeff.

“Because you just ran from your kitchen to your living-room? Man, you really need to exercise more.” Jeff taunts him.

“I haven’t run Jeff, I just happened to take a peek at my cellphone and I had a Facebook notification of nothing other than the future Mrs. Duncan’s newest post.” Ian explains.

“Why do you get a notification when Britta posts something on her socials?” Jeff asks, frowning.

“Well, I need to keep myself updated on the woman of my dreams’ whereabouts, don’t I?”

“Um… Okay, we’ll get back to the creepiness later, but anyway, what did she post that’s gotten you all panting?”

“See for yourself.”

Ian then takes his phone out of his pocket and unlocks it to go on Facebook and show Jeff that post he has been talking about. Jeff looks at Ian’s phone screen to see what the fuss is about. It is a simple selfie of Britta and Annie, posing with widened smiles and a drink in hand. Above the picture, there is a caption that simply says “ _girls night!! <3_”

“Isn’t she absolutely smashing?” Ian says dreamily while looking at Britta’s picture.

“That’s weird, Britta usually never posts pictures of herself on her socials.” Jeff points out, ignoring Ian’s comment. “She’s always rambling about the fact that she doesn’t want to give in to that capitalist device or whatever she calls it.”

“It appears that some things have changed since your new flat-mate is here, haven’t they?”

Jeff takes a moment to reflect while Ian is wondering out loud if he should wait a few more minutes before “liking” Britta’s picture in order to “avoid looking like a creep”. Jeff distractingly looks at Annie on the picture – she is obviously drinking a fruity cocktail. Her cheeks are slightly blushed, probably from the heat in the room and the alcohol. She has a sparkle in her eyes, the kind of sparkle one has when they are having a good time. Jeff smiles. Right away, the first thought that crosses his mind is “God she’s hot”. Jeff shakes his head from left to right and swiftly composes himself. The alcohol is starting to affect his system and it is not good. The urge to grab his phone becomes too important for him to ignore, therefore, he needs a distraction. And he needs it quickly.

“Okay, who’s down for a drinking game?” Jeff suddenly asks out loud.

With not much surprise, practically everyone in the room yells to approve of the idea.

***

“Truth or dare?”

“Um… I’m going to go with dare, I think.”

“I hoped you would.”

“Oh no, can I change and choose truth?”

“Too late, my friend.”

Annie sighs at Britta’s answer and starts fearing for the worst. She is now down to her fourth cocktail and it is becoming harder and harder to focus entirely on what Britta is telling her. As for Britta… Well, Annie may be drunk but she is still lucid enough to at least assert that Britta probably is inebriated too.

“Your dare is… to… go to Adam and ask for his number.” Britta slowly says, reflecting while speaking.

“Shit.” Annie lets out, hiding her face behind her hands. “Britta please, this is so embarrassing!”

“Come on Annie, the guy’s probably dying to get in your pants, he’s not going to complain if you ask him for his phone number.” Britta points out with a tremulous voice.

“But what if I don’t want to call him then?” Annie points out, pursing her lips.

“Then you won’t call him. Who cares, he won’t have _your_ phone number so you’re the one in control either way. Ugh Annie you’re looking for any shitty excuse not to go there right now.” Britta remarks, sounding disappointed. “Besides, it’s your dare so unless you want to chug your cocktail, you have to do it.”

Annie starts pouting, like a little girl who is having a tantrum. Britta has been taunting her all night long about the bartender. Sure, he is charming. Sure, he is most definitely flirting with her. Sure, Annie does not mind the flirting. At all. However, it does not mean she wants to take the reins and try to make something happen beyond flirting. And again, she is most certainly too drunk for this.

“You know what? If you can do this, after, you can give me the most embarrassing dare you want.” Britta eventually suggests, seeing Annie remains quiet. “What do you think, gal pal?”

“Huh.” Annie says, thinking. “That is actually an interesting idea.”

“Uh-oh. Doesn’t sound good for me but yeah, you go Annie!”

On this note, Annie sticks her tongue out to Britta, who starts clapping her hands as Annie stands up and walks towards the bar. She notices that her steps are not harmonized and that the distance between their table and the bar seems to have expanded compared to the last time she walked over there. It is astounding, what an innocent fruity cocktail can do to the human brain.

Once Annie is facing the bartender, her mind seems to disconnect from her body. She is incapable of expressing words vocally. Even though everything feels slower around her, she can get from Adam’s puzzled look that she must look ridiculous right now.

“Do you need something?” Adam then asks her loudly to cover up the sound of the music.

“Your phone.” Annie blurts out without thinking.

“What?” Adam exclaims, putting his hand next to his ear to let her know he hasn’t heard her well.

“Your phone!” Annie repeats more loudly.

“You want my phone?” Adam then asks, chuckling. “That’s pretty bold to ask someone that.”

“No! Um, sorry, it’s hard to line up a sentence…” Annie then mumbles, starting to feel ashamed.

“I think I can guess what you’re trying to say.”

Without adding anything else, Annie quietly observes Adam pulling a tiny white napkin from underneath the counter, taking a pen out of his pocket and writing something on the napkin. She sees it without really focusing on it, since her mind has decided it rather listen to the music playing at the moment. A few seconds later, Adam gently grabs Annie’s hand to put the now folded napkin into it.

“Hope I got it right.” Adam says with a mischievous smile.

Annie awkwardly chuckles, embarrassed, before she turns around and races back to her table. She immediately sits down and looks at Britta with widened eyes, mortified.

“Well??” Britta asks, looking impatient.

“He gave me a napkin.” Annie simply answers.

Britta frowns, confused, as Annie unfolds the napkin in her hand. When she sees what is inside, she immediately giggles.

“I want to know what’s funny!” Britta then exclaims before taking the napkin off Annie’s hand.

As Britta is reading what Adam has written on the napkin, Annie keeps smiling, licking her lower lip. She realizes how thirsty she actually is and instantly puts her glass to her lips, even though it does not have water in it and will only make her even thirstier.

“Oh wow, that’s… kinky.” Britta comments out loud when she is done reading, raising her eyebrows.

“But my dare is now successful, isn’t it?” Annie remarks, smirking.

“It definitely is.” Britta compliments while giving Annie the napkin back. “Well, go ahead, ask me whatever you want, even if it’s the most embarrassing thing in the world, I’ll gladly do it to celebrate your bravery, my dear.”

As Annie laughs at Britta’s solemn tone and looks at her tilting her head up and closing her eyes with her lips turning into a smile, she suddenly has a revelation. She does not know why but her instincts then urge her to ask for something in particular.

“Truth.” Annie blurts out.

“Um, I don’t think that’s how it works, Annie.” Britta points out, chuckling.

“You said I could ask for whatever I wanted if I succeeded with my dare.” Annie reminds her.

“I did.” Britta confirms.

“Then that’s what I want. I want you to choose truth.” Annie explains.

“O-kay…” Britta says slowly, sounding intrigued. “Truth, then.”

“Why is this girls’ night so important to you?”

Annie’s sincere question seems to knock Britta off her feet. She apparently wasn’t expecting something like this. For a second, Annie is worried about upsetting Britta but as the evening has been going on, the question has been somewhere inside Annie’s mind, unable to just vanish without getting an answer first.

“I, um… I actually don’t know what to say, Annie.” Britta eventually replies, visibly confused.

“Just… answer truthfully.” Annie tells her in an encouraging tone. “Without any filter. Tell me what’s on your mind.”

“Well, I, um… You’re catching me off guard here, to be honest. You really got that impression? That tonight’s important to me?”

“I mean… Yeah? The way you’ve been talking about it all week and how you’ve kept saying there were some rituals to girls’ nights and everything… It looks like it means more to you than a simple night out with your roommate.”

Britta then lowers her eyes and purses her lips, silent. Annie really hopes she has not offended her roommate. Things are going so well between the two of them so far, she does not want to sabotage it. But again, she wanted an answer to her question.

“By rituals, I mean the tropes’ list Abed gave you.” Annie adds to fill in for Britta’s silence.

“Abed didn’t give me anything.” Britta then says in a sigh.

Annie is relieved to hear Britta’s voice, although now, it is her turn to be confused. She looks at Britta with curiosity, waiting for her to continue.

“I mean, yeah, he mentioned to me that girls’ night was a famous trope in movies.” Britta keeps saying. “But… I’m the one who looked it up on the Internet.”

“Aww Britta!” Annie exclaims, softened. “Why didn’t you tell me this?”

“Because it’s… kind of embarrassing, you know? Like, Annie, I think I was literally trying to _impress_ you.” Britta admits.

“Why?” Annie asks, dumbfounded. “I mean, it’s sweet, but… I’m just _me_ , you know.”

“Yeah but… I really want us to be friends.” Britta confesses, almost sadly.

Even though they both are clearly inebriated and on the verge of being excessively emotional, Annie can feel all of Britta’s honesty in these simple little words and it warms her heart up more than she could have thought.

“My whole life, I’ve struggled at making friends with other girls.” Britta then pours her heart out, her voice quavering lightly. “I don’t know why but girls have always hated me. In retrospect, I don’t think I ever understood them, to be honest. Like, they were interested in things I didn’t really care for, you know. While they were gushing over our sexy math’s teacher in high school, I was already campaigning against the deforestation in South America. We never shared any interests. Weirdly enough, it’s always been easier for me to make friends with guys because, you know, they don’t really judge, in the end? You have your interests, they have theirs but it doesn’t mean you can’t be friends with them.”

Annie nods, oddly touched by Britta’s speech. It certainly is not for the same reasons but Annie can definitely relate to what Britta is feeling. But for now, it is not about her – it is about her roommate’s need to confess.

“Then, life went by, it was still difficult for me to have genuine women friendships, and when I arrived in the apartment and met Emma, I really thought this would be it, you know. She seemed like a really nice person and she was friendly from the beginning and I immediately thought ‘finally, Britta! A woman doesn’t hate you and apparently wants to be your friend!’ I felt… complete, or some other bullshit, you know? My friendship with Emma was really significant to me, and it still kind of is today, because she’s the one who made me realize I’m bi.”

Annie keeps nodding as she is processing Britta’s words. She is having even more answers to even more questions that she had and moreover, it looks like it is benefitting Britta to talk about all of this.

“Not like in a ‘I realized I was sexually attracted to my woman friend’ kind of way, but she made me feel so safe and confident as a person that I was no longer afraid to come out, I think. Then, I met my ex, Paige, and I was crazy batshit in love with her before she dumped me. Fuck, Annie, she really broke my heart… And then everything went to shit in the apartment and Emma left and it actually broke my heart a second time around.”

Britta seems unable to keep talking, as her voice gets stuck in her throat. Annie sees her wiping a tear away and the alcohol in her system makes her so emotionally empathetic that she feels the urge to cry too. Without thinking, Annie stretches her arm in order to take Britta’s hand in hers and squeeze it.

“I’m sorry Britta, I didn’t mean to bring back some bad memories.” Annie softly apologizes.

“It’s fine, actually, it probably needed to get out for good.” Britta reassures her, sniffing gently. “It’s ironic, I’m a therapist and I keep telling my patients that it’s important to talk things out, yet, I don’t apply it to myself. Anyway, the point is, being friends with Emma felt so right that when she moved out, she kind of left a void, you know? Which is why we don’t really mention her anymore with Abed and Jeff. I probably shouldn’t say this but she really messed Jeff up too.”

Annie swallows hardly at the mention of Jeff. She realizes it is actually the first time she has thought of him tonight and it has probably been for the best because thinking about him makes her even mushier and it is not the right time for that.

“Anyway, so, I think that’s why tonight was important to me.” Britta concludes in a relieved sigh. “I really wanted us to bond and become friends, because… Don’t take this the wrong way but you’re kind of like my new Emma. Only improved because you’re so much nicer. You’re Emma 2.0.”

Annie can’t help but laugh at Britta’s rambling because she is very much clearly saying everything that she has in mind – another drunken power move.

“Britta, I… I’m so touched, I don’t even know what to say.” Annie admits sincerely, still smiling.

“Don’t say that, in the end, I’ve been pretty selfish by trying to replace my best friend at any cost.” Britta retorts shamefully.

“Well… It may have been selfish but look where it got us. Here, bonding, having fun, talking honestly to each other. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure that’s what _friends_ do.”

The spark in Britta’s eyes is enough to convey all of her gratitude and happiness in this instant. Annie feels good too. Her chest is warm – but maybe it is because of her drinking. She lets go of Britta’s hand and pushes her hair back, sighing happily.

“While we’re at it, may I confess another thing that’s been my shameful little secret for too long?” Britta eventually asks, wincing.

“Oh, sure.” Annie simply says, taken aback.

“I’m having casual sex with Troy.” Britta suddenly blurts out quickly.

Annie starts smiling slowly and leans over Britta as if she is about to tell her a secret too.

“Sweetie… I think everyone in the apartment already knows that.” Annie whispers.

“Seriously?” Britta exclaims. “We’ve been hiding out for nothing?”

“Well… The day after we played True American, I saw Troy sneaking out of your room, and Abed didn’t look too surprised, so…”

“Oh God.” Britta says, wiping her face with her hands. “I’m so embarrassed right now.”

“It’s okay, Britta. If it makes you feel better, we’ll keep pretending like we don’t know about it.”

Annie’s comment makes Britta heartily laugh, and Annie quickly mimics her. At some point, she turns her head on her left to distractingly scan the room, but then, something catches her eye.

“What the…” Annie whispers, promptly getting up.

“What is it?” Britta asks, automatically following Annie.

Annie walks over to a table a few feet away from them and stands in front of it, arms crossed against her chest.

“Hey Abed, hey Troy.” She simply says.

Annie tries to look assertive as both Troy and Abed slowly raise their heads to look at her.

“Why are you guys here?” Britta exclaims, astounded. “And why are you dressed like Shaggy and Scooby-Doo on a stakeout?”

“We were actually going for Starsky and Hutch.” Abed immediately contradicts.

“We were?” Troy asks, apparently surprised.

“Were you spying on us?” Annie asks them, displeased.

“Weeeeeeeell…” Troy begins.

“Yes.” Abed answers.

“Damn it Abed, I was coming up with something!” Troy complains to his friend.

“If you guys wanted to spend the night with us, you should’ve just asked instead of stalking us.” Britta points out, discontented as well.

“Oh, really?” Troy says sarcastically. “Because you were very specific about wanting to have a girls’ night with Annie.”

“We didn’t understand why, which is why we decided to come and spy on you.” Abed adds, as honest as usual. “But it looks like it was important for your storylines and your character developments to share the screen-time together so I understand better now.”

Annie does not know if she will ever get used to Abed’s vision of the world, nevertheless, she shares a meaningful look with Britta after his comment and as they smile to each other, they realize they are not even really mad at the boys because they just had a wholesome conversation and spent a very funny evening together and they don’t want anything to ruin that.

“You know what we still haven’t done that’s on the tropes’ list?” Britta then asks Annie with a mischievous smile.

“I don’t but please, tell me.” Annie answers, smiling too.

Annie did not think her evening would end with her, Britta, Troy and Abed singing together on the karaoke stage the song _Chiquitita_ by the band ABBA but in the end, it is even better than every girls’ night scenario she could have imagined. So much so that when they leave, she forgets the bartender’s napkin on the table they were sitting at.

***

When they all go home together around 3 A.M., Annie has started sobering up and is suddenly craving for some junk food and a good night of sleep. As she walks inside the building, arm-in-arm with Britta and followed by Abed and Troy, Annie giggles joyfully and feels grateful she has stumbled upon their roommate’s ad two weeks ago. These people make her feel good about herself and she is nowhere near getting tired of it.

“Shit, the elevator’s broken again!” Britta suddenly yells when they’re in front of the doors.

Both Troy and Annie shush her, as it is very late and they can’t be too loud to avoid waking everyone up. Indeed, there is a sign on the elevator’s door that simply reads _BROKEN_.

“Do we seriously have to walk up the stairs drunk at 3 in the morning?” Britta keeps complaining, quieter this time.

“It’s either that or you sleep here.” Abed points out.

“I wouldn’t mind, any lying surface looks comfy right now…” Troy then mumbles.

The group then gathers the courage to walk up the stairs to their apartment, which takes an abnormally long time. From time to time, someone misses a step or someone snorts from trying to refrain a loud laugh. Once they get to their destination, they unlock the door as quietly as possible and walk into the apartment.

Abed pours his friends big glasses of fresh water and puts some leftover French fries in the microwave for them to eat. After that, he goes straight to bed. Troy, Britta and Annie eat their fries while talking to each other before they eventually call it a night. Annie feels amused to see Troy and Britta automatically walking towards her bedroom together, hand in hand.

Annie then takes off her clothes, slides into her pajamas and goes to the bathroom to brush her teeth, wash her face and untangle her hair. Once all of this is done, she goes back to her bedroom and gladly lets herself fall in her bed. As she gets under the blanket, she grabs her phone that she left on the nightstand before going to the bathroom in order to check if she has any unread messages. She sees she has some notifications from a few of her apps, along with an unread text.

Frowning, Annie unlocks her phone and reads it. Her heart skips a beat when she realizes it is a text from Jeff.

**\- Jeff Winger, 1.24 A.M.**

_hey annie its jeff. hope girls night’s going ok. that youre having fun. and that britta isnt embarrassing you by yelling weird stuff in the bar._

_i was just thinking about you. wish you were here. this party sucks. that chang guy is such a weirdo. also whats up with magnitude and his pop-pops?_

_if you were here, it’d be more fun, for sure._

_btw, you look really gorgeous tonight_

_have fun, see you tomorrow_

At the end of her reading, Annie grins. She puts her phone back on the nightstand and briefly falls asleep, excited to be able to tease Jeff the next day about the fact he sent her a drunken text.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter!!  
> I'm having a lot of fun writing that story, this chapter was nice to plan out. And I'm loving the positive feedback on it, thank you all so much for it! Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated :)
> 
> (Of course, a special thanks to the Community Discord #fan-fic channel for their endless support and help. You guys are the best.)

The day after their girls’ night, Annie wakes up feeling at peace. She is wondering if Britta feels the same way. Probably not. Britta might be a little bit hungover, in all fairness.

Annie has breakfast with Abed and Troy that morning. Faithful to his Sunday ritual, Abed is drinking a hot chocolate out of his favorite mug. The three of them chit-chat together when, later on, Britta joins them. Annie notices she sits down next to Abed and both she and Troy pretend like they have not spent the night together. Annie also notices how Abed shares an amused look with her. She softly smiles. She is happy to say she has developed an honest complicity with her roommates to this day.

As they all keep talking casually, around 10 A.M., Jeff walks into the kitchen groaning like a bear with a sore head. His eyes are not even fully opened, as if he has just woken up. His nose crinkles as he heads towards the coffee machine under the eyes of his roommates.

“Good morning Sleeping Beauty.” Britta greets him ironically.

“Shut up Britta, it’s too early for sarcasm.” Jeff instantly bites.

“It’s precisely 10 A.M. Jeff, I think it’s considered late for most people.” Abed points out.

“Thanks for the heads up, Abed. I’ll let you all know that waking up after a night of drinking when you’re forty is definitely not as easy as it used to be at twenty.” Jeff explains.

Annie swallows hardly. She already figured out that Jeff is definitely older than her. She can see it both physically and mentally – she just has to look at the difference between Troy and Jeff to confirm this theory. These two are like night and day. However, she still did not thought it through enough to guess _how much_ older he is compared to her. Now, she knows and all of a sudden, she starts to question whether or not this attraction she feels between her and Jeff is genuine. Why would a mature attractive man in his forties even pay attention to a young woman in her mid-twenties, freshly out of college?

“ _I’m_ hungover and I’m okay.” Britta then chimes in.

“Yeah, that’s not what you were saying when you woke –“

Troy interrupts himself and never finishes his sentence, probably hoping nobody will pick up on that strange remark. Abed seems to notice and clears his throat in an abnormally exaggerated way before focusing on Annie.

“Annie, since your character’s just arrived in our main show and we’ve barely started developing a friendship the viewers will soon enjoy without a doubt, would you like to come visit the set of my new movie during your free time next week so that we can bond properly?” Abed bluntly asks Annie.

“Oh.” Annie simply lets out, caught off guard. “Um, I mean, I need to check my schedule for next week at work but… I guess I could free myself for a couple of hours someday.”

“Cool. Cool cool cool.” Abed approves, nodding. “You guys will have to find a scenario interesting enough for the B plot, then.” He keeps saying while looking respectively at Jeff, Troy and Britta.

“Don’t worry about us Abed, we’ll be fine.” Jeff tells him, sharing a wink with Britta.

“It’s like a tradition here.” Britta then explains to Annie. “Every new roommate is quickly granted the privilege of visiting Abed’s movie sets and trust me, it’s a phenomenal experience. If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll even get to meet some famous people!”

“That sounds exciting, thanks for suggesting this Abed.” Annie then says happily.

“Sure. As Britta put it, it’s tradition, after all.” Abed retorts with a thin smile.

They all finish eating their breakfast while talking about everything and nothing. Annie keeps glancing at Jeff, who does the same from time to time. Annie has not made up the connection she feels between them, she is positive about that. Besides, Jeff sent her a drunken text in which he admits he thinks she is “gorgeous”, to use his words. Surely, that means something too. And Annie is obviously eager to find out what it is.

Later, when she goes to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face, she meets Jeff there, who is attentively shaving his beard.

“Aww why are you getting rid of that?” Annie whimpers ironically as she stands next to him in front of the mirror. “It looks so good on you.”

“I know but I’ve figured I might try a different style for my second week of teaching.” Jeff replies, deeply focused on the razor he presses on his skin.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t had students making googly eyes at you.” Annie teases him. “You’re like a ridiculous caricature of the hot new teacher.”

“Of course I’ve had already. And thank you for saying I’m hot.” Jeff taunts her back.

“I’ve also said something about you being a ridiculous caricature, you know.”

“Well, I prefer to ignore that first part and only focus on the last one.”

Annie chuckles, rolling her eyes as Jeff gives her a very significant look. She feels like she has butterflies in her stomach, which she tries to ignore by attentively applying some moistening cream on her face.

“Soooo how was your party at Duncan’s last night?” Annie then asks in a high-pitched voice.

“Ugh, it was awful.” Jeff instantly sighs. “It wasn’t even supposed to be a party in the first place, I went there to grab a beer with the guy and watch a football game, and then, we ended up with a drunk Chang trying to fit into the dishwasher.”

“Sounds rough.” Annie winces.

“I know, right? Anyway, it’s suffice to say it was not a memorable night. What about you? How was girls’ night with Britta?”

“Well… It was a very fun and interesting night, to say the least.” Annie says teasingly.

“Tell me more.” Jeff immediately says, apparently curious.

“First of all, we found out that Troy and Abed were at the bar to spy on us.”

“What??” Jeff exclaims, eyes widened.

“Yeah, I think they were kind of jealous we went out without them but we figured that part out rather quickly.” Annie explains, shrugging. “Oh and I really bonded with Britta, it was great.”

“That’s sweet. I’m sure it means a lot to her.”

“It does, actually. We’ve had a meaningful talk and I think it made her feel better.”

“It’s great that you two are getting along so well.”

“It is, I’m thrilled about it. Oh, and then, I’ve got a very interesting text message before going to bed…”

Annie notices how Jeff stiffens, his razor still in his hand. She smirks smugly, knowing she has hit the right spot. She should not be happy about this but it does feel good to be able to tease Jeff a little.

“Damn, I forgot about that…” Jeff suddenly mumbles, picking up on his interrupted shaving.

“Did you send it before or after Chang fit into the dishwasher?” Annie jokes to lighten the mood.

Jeff looks deadpan for a few seconds and Annie’s smile fades as she starts fearing she might have offended him when she was just trying to tease him a bit.

“I think it was after, probably. And he didn’t _actually_ fit into it, by the way, just tried to.” Jeff eventually answers with a smirk.

Annie realizes she was subconsciously holding her breath when she suddenly exhales in a light chuckle. Jeff does not look offended one bit – as a matter of fact, if there has got to be a transparent emotion he is giving off in the moment, it would probably be a slight embarrassment.

“That’s kind of awkward now, isn’t it?” Jeff asks her with a wince.

“Well… I don’t think it’s awkward.” Annie asserts confidently. “I even think it’s sweet.”

“You do?” Jeff blurts out, surprised.

“Yeah, I mean… Of all the people you could’ve drunk texted, you thought about me. So yeah, I think it’s sweet.”

Annie’s skin feels like it’s burning under Jeff’s intense gaze. She subtly licks her lower lip before looking at herself in the mirror, knowing fully well Jeff has not stopped looking at her yet.

“Oh and thank you for saying I’m gorgeous, by the way.” Annie then jokes, eyeing him in the mirror.

“Ha, well done.” Jeff chortles, understanding the callback to his own joke a few minutes ago. “Hope I didn’t make your head swell, though.”

“Oh don’t worry about my head, it’s fine.”

Annie and Jeff laugh in unison, and before she can add anything else that will make her cross the forbidden path that is the roommate’s golden rule, she applies some toothpaste on her toothbrush and starts brushing her teeth in silence. Her heart is beating ridiculously fast as she makes yet another heated eye contact with Jeff in the mirror and she has to mentally slap herself in order to lower her eyes and stop courting disaster.

***

Eventually, seeing how busy her week at work is going to be, Annie asks Abed if she can come to visit his movie set on the weekend. Abed agrees, since he is going to be there on Saturday anyway – late schedule or something like that, from what Annie gathered.

Therefore, here she is, on a cloudy chilly Saturday morning, wrapped up in her favorite cardigan, walking next to Abed, who is showing her every corner of the movie set while telling her elaborated details.

“Here is where the house scenes are shot.” Abed tells her as he points his finger towards a living-room set, surrounded by cameras and heavy lights. “As you can see, it’s not far from the montage room, so I can easily switch back between here and there whenever we shoot our scenes there.”

“So that’s what living-rooms we see in the movies actually look like, then.” Annie comments out loud, fascinated. “Wow, it feels so weird to see how it is behind the scenes.”

“It’s funny, everyone keeps saying that.” Abed remarks, frowning.

“Well, it’s probably because you’re used to it now, so it doesn’t struck you anymore.” Annie figures, shrugging.

“Maybe.” Abed simply concedes.

“And where do the actors go between the scenes?” Annie then asks as they keep on walking around.

“Oh, each one of them has their own trailer, of course.” Abed instantly replies.

“Can we go see them?” Annie immediately enquires excitingly.

“Oh no, we can’t bother the actors.” Abed shakes his head. “Technically nobody’s even allowed to bring visitors on set but since the head of security is fond of me, he pretty much lets me do whatever I want.”

“That’s sweet, you two must be good friends, then.” Annie remarks softly.

“We’re not friends.” Abed contradicts bluntly. “He just has an unrequited crush on me.”

Annie does not know what to add and simply purses her lips while humming quietly as they stride along the rest of the set. At some point, they are back outside and Annie is almost certain she has just seen the actress Zooey Deschanel walking by. She can’t help but start squealing, which does not even seem to shock Abed.

“Wasn’t it…?” Annie begins asking, stomping on site.

“The younger Deschanel sister? Possibly. I think she’s shooting a TV show nearby.”

“This is so exciting, how can you not be excited to work in such an environment?”

“Oh but I _am_ excited Annie. I am excited every single day. It’s my dream job, after all. I’m just not a very expressive person.”

Annie can’t argue with that and blindly follows Abed until eventually, he stops without any warning and stares into the distance.

“Is the tour done?” Annie wonders, curious.

“We haven’t seen everything but I think Damian went on lunch break so the substitute might not like seeing us around.” Abed pouts.

“Is Damian the cute bodyguard who likes you?” Annie taunts Abed, rolling her shoulders in a funny way.

“I never said he was cute. And he’s not a bodyguard.” Abed retorts, not getting the sarcasm. “Anyway, you want to go get lunch?”

“Sure! Do you know a place nearby?” Annie enquires.

“There’s an Italian restaurant down the street. Their mushroom pastas are pretty good. Also I feel like I’m in _The Godfather_ when I’m there.”

“Great, let’s go there then!” Annie exclaims enthusiastically.

“Cool. This way, we’ll have time to talk about the sexual tension between you and Jeff.”

“I’m sorry, the… the what now?”

***

Meanwhile, Jeff, Britta and Troy have decided to go to the movies together. Well, Troy decided and Britta and Jeff tagged along.

“Hi, three tickets for _Crimson Peak_ , please.” Britta asks at the counter in front of the theater.

“I don’t even know what this movie is about.” Jeff mumbles behind Britta.

“Me neither but Abed picked it so it must be good.” Troy tells him confidently.

“So you’re just blindly following anything Abed tells you?” Jeff asks him, frowning.

“Don’t meddle with this, you wouldn’t understand.” Britta chimes in as she gets the tickets and starts walking inside the theaters.

“Are you sure you don’t mind paying for them, Britta?” Jeff asks as he points towards the tickets. “You know, usually, it’s tradition and courtesy to let the men –“

“Well, fuck tradition and courtesy, women can pay for taking their men out too.” Britta interrupts him assertively.

“Oh so we’re your men, then?” Jeff teases her.

“Exactly! I’m taking you two out on a date and it’s on me so don’t complain.” Britta jokes in a serious tone.

“Let me at least pay for popcorn.” Jeff insists, visibly embarrassed.

“Ugh, okay, if it makes your manhood feel better, knock yourself out.” Britta concedes.

Jeff winks at her and immediately goes to the counter in order to get some popcorn. Therefore, Britta and Troy are left alone together, which results in them awkwardly smiling and looking at each other.

“You know… It’s actually the first time we’re out on a date.” Troy tells her shyly.

“Well… We’re on a date with Jeff, technically.” Britta corrects with a wince.

“Yeah… Does that make us a… truffle or something?” Troy asks her confusingly.

“I think you mean a _throuple_.” Britta tells him, smiling softly at Troy’s misunderstanding. “And… No it doesn’t Troy. We’re not even a couple ourselves.”

“I mean… We pretty much are? We hang out, like, all the time. We have sex. I even spend the night with you now, which you didn’t even let me do at first. I think that’s what couples do, right?”

“Yeah but we agreed we would keep it casual. Right?”

“Yeah… Um, yeah, sure.”

Britta frowns at Troy’s uncertainty in the moment. He scrapes the back of his neck and licks his lower lip, the way he does when he is nervous. She does not have time to ask him what is on his mind since Jeff is already back, holding three boxes of popcorn in his arms.

“Can someone help me out here?” Jeff asks, struggling to hold the three of them together.

Britta instantly grabs one, releasing Jeff from any stress of making everything fall to the ground. As they move forward to get in line to enter the movie room, Britta shares another look with Troy and pouts before quickly looking away. As she does, she encounters another pair of eyes that has the opposite effect Troy’s has on her. Suddenly, she feels like she has been deprived from air, as if some pressure is acting against her lungs. And then, she feels like her heart is breaking into a million pieces for the second time in her life.

“Fuck me.” She whispers in a tremulous voice.

***

“I wonder what the others are doing in the B plot. Hope it’s interesting.”

Annie nods distractingly at Abed’s comment as she watches him savor his plate of fresh pasta with its mushroom sauce and its homemade parmesan. Annie has opted for some salmon pasta with crème fraiche, yet, even though she was hungry when they got there, all of a sudden, she does not feel in the mood for eating as vividly as Abed is doing at the moment. What he said to her before they left the movie set is still playing in her head over and over again. She is trying to make sense out of it but Abed’s chewing is too distracting.

“They should be at the movies by now.” Abed keeps saying, apparently not noticing Annie’s discomfort. “I told Troy they should go and see _Crimson Peak_. I know some people who worked on this movie. It should be a good horror story.”

“That’s great.” Annie says half-heartedly.

“It’s probably going to be weird, though. Jeff will be kind of a fifth wheel in this situation. Maybe Troy and Britta will sit next to each other in the theaters and realize their hidden feelings for each other when their hands brush together. Or maybe Jeff will sit between Troy and Britta and ruin any possibility of a romantic plot, which will make them frustrated. Either way, it should get interesting, whatever the outcome is going to be. Even though it’s a B plot, if it’s a good one, it usually ends up being almost as interesting as the A plot.”

“Abed, can you stop rambling about the others and get back to what you told me earlier?” Annie eventually lets out, frustrated.

“About your sexual tension with Jeff?” Abed casually asks her to clarify.

“Yes, Abed!” Annie exclaims with widened eyes, astounded by her roommate’s carelessness.

“Right. I thought maybe we should wait for dessert before talking about it.” Abed confesses.

“Why??” Annie asks, even more taken aback.

“In case you’d be embarrassed by the conversation and storm off. It’d be a shame to do it in the middle of our lunch together. Might as well enjoy what we’re eating.”

“Okay Abed, you know what? Those pastas are delicious but I’m not even able to enjoy them at their fullest because I keep waiting for you to clarify what you meant earlier.”

“What is there to clarify about ‘sexual tension’? I think it speaks for itself, don’t you?”

“There’s no such thing as a sexual tension between me and Jeff.” Annie asserts, crossing her arms against her chest in order to look confident.

“Ouch. You’re still in the denial stage. It’s not going to be as easy as I thought.” Abed says, wincing slightly.

“Oh because you thought about it?”

“Of course I did. It’s my job. I’m an observer. I observe. And then, I reflect.”

“Well, you can stop observing whatever it is you’ve observed so far because there’s nothing to talk about here.”

“Oh Annie Annie Annie…” Abed sighs, looking dramatically at the ceiling. “Denial _and_ persistence. It’s really not going to be easy.”

“What are you talking about?” Annie exclaims, more confused than ever.

“Well, the five stages of grief, obviously.”

“Wh – I’m not grieving Abed!” Annie takes offence.

“It’s meant to be about grief but really, you can switch it to anything else. And in our case, it’s your feelings for Jeff.”

“I don’t have feelings for J –“

“First, there’s denial.” Abed interrupts her, which makes Annie raise her eyebrows. “This is clearly where you’re still at, Annie. Then, there’s anger. You eventually won’t want to have these feelings and will get mad about it because you’re aware of the golden rule and things are going so well for you now that you don’t want to ruin everything simply for Jeff’s beautiful eyes. After, there’s bargaining. You’ll try to do something to make you forget about those feelings, something that’ll drive you away from him, but it won’t succeed, it never does. Then, depression. You’ll be sad because you’ll want to have something with Jeff but you’ll feel like you can’t. And eventually, there’s acceptance. Inevitably, you’ll truly embrace your feelings for him. Because that’s how any love story is supposed to happen.”

Annie remains speechless after Abed’s little analysis. He is wrong. He can only be wrong. Annie is not feeling this way and she will not feel all these things he has just described. She just won’t. He is wrong.

“You totally want to storm off now, don’t you?” Abed then asks her in a concerning voice. “I knew it. Should’ve waited for dessert.”

“I’m not going to storm off Abed, life isn’t a movie.” Annie points out, even though she is clearly upset.

“Of course it isn’t. But where do you think movies get their inspiration from?”

As Abed then keeps on eating his dish with a satisfied look on his face, Annie does not know what to add. She just wants to eat her salmon pasta and forget about this whole conversation. But then, something makes its way in the back of her head, a thought that slowly but carefully takes root and by the time they are both ordering dessert, she can no longer ignore it.

“What if your theory’s right?” Annie bluntly asks him.

Abed lifts his head from the menu to lay his eyes on her. Annie can tell his curiosity has been aroused from the light sparkle in his eyes. He definitely looks intrigued.

“What if… there’s actually something going on between me and Jeff?” Annie keeps on saying, uncertain that she is doing the right thing.

“Of course there’s something going on between you and Jeff.” Abed corrects her. “I wasn’t making assumptions earlier, I was stating it.”

“Yeah, I got that. But what I mean is, what does it change? You know the golden rule, I know the golden rule. Even if it’s true, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Oh but you two will break the golden rule, that’s obvious.”

“But that’s just the thing, Abed – I don’t _want_ to break the golden rule. I like my living situation. I like living with you guys. I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize that.”

“I’m sure you’re sincere, Annie. But you can’t fight your feelings forever. You’ll see eventually. Our story is just another predictable rom-com. We all know the outcome to those.”

Annie opens her mouth to say something else but immediately shuts it. Apparently, there is nothing she can do to make Abed change his mind, therefore, she puts it aside and lowers her eyes on the menu to think about what she is going to get for dessert. Maybe some tiramisu will make her forget about that unsettling conversation she just had with her roommate.

***

When they get back to the apartment later this afternoon, Annie and Abed walk in on a particular scene.

“What’s going on here?” Abed asks, frowning.

Indeed, the two of them can now see Troy, Britta and Jeff, sitting in that particular order on the couch, all covered by the same blanket, while some very sad music is playing in the background. Annie can also smell some incense stick that she notices on the coffee table in front of them.

“Why are you guys listening to Sinéad O’Connor?” Abed keeps asking.

“This is Britta’s go-to song when she’s sad, remember?” Jeff answers plainly.

“Are you okay, Britta?” Annie immediately asks as she walks towards them and kneels in front of Britta.

“No, I’m not.” Britta mumbles in a raspy voice.

Annie silently observes her. Her eyes are puffy and her face is reddened. Annie can tell Britta has been crying.

“We ran into You-Know-Who at the movies.” Jeff explains to Abed and Annie.

“What?” Troy suddenly exclaims. “Voldemort was at the movies and you didn’t even tell me?”

“Not Voldemort, Troy!” Jeff exclaims, looking dumbfounded. “The _other_ You-Know-Who. You were here, you know what I mean!”

“It’s okay, you can say her name.” Britta grumbles, hiding her face under the blanket.

Abed suddenly gasps. Annie thinks she understands the innuendo too.

“I just want to disappear under that thing and never have to face the world ever again.” Britta says.

“I thought you were over your ex-girlfriend.” Abed points out, sitting on the armchair next to the couch.

“I am!” Britta suddenly rails.

“She was with someone else there. On a date.” Jeff explains to Annie.

Annie then winces. From what Britta has confessed to her during their girls’ night together, she can only imagine how her roommate must be feeling right now. Heartbreaks are never easy, and contrary to what most people think, they don’t have an expiration date.

“We had to pretend we were on a date too so that Britta could feel empowered or something.” Jeff keep saying, rolling his eyes.

“The three of you?” Annie then chuckles.

“Don’t laugh Annie, throuples exist and they’re allowed to have a social life just as much as basic couples.” Britta points out, getting her head out of the blanket at the same time.

“Weirdly enough, it seems like she bought it.” Jeff says, shrugging.

“I can see why, you three would make a very cute throuple.” Annie teases them.

Jeff laughs and locks eyes with Annie. She feels soft and warm, and when she looks away and makes eye-contact with Abed, who smirks lightly, she understands he might be more than right, after all.

“Alright, I think I’m going to lock myself in my room and cry until all the water I have in my body is out.” Britta then announces before taking the blanket off her and getting up.

“Don’t eat chocolate out of the jar again.” Jeff taunts her.

Britta sticks her tongue out at him but she quickly loses interest in him to look at Troy.

“Can you…?” She begins asking but she can’t seem to finish her sentence.

It looks like Troy understands her without even having to hear her speak because he instantly stands up too and gently takes her hand in his before walking towards her room with her. When they are out of sight, Jeff lets out a breath and raises his eyebrows.

“Is this a thing now?” He asks while pointing at the direction Britta and Troy just took.

“I just think Britta needed some comfort right now.” Annie tells him with a light smile.

“Huh.” Jeff simply says, reflective. “I guess a lot of things make more sense now.”

Afterwards, Abed turns the music off and Jeff folds the blanket to put it back in the drawer under the couch in which they keep most of their sheets and plaids. Before Annie can walk back to her room, Jeff gently grabs her arm, which makes her turn around and face him with an inquisitive look.

“Hum, I was just… Did you have a good day?” Jeff asks her while scraping the back of his neck.

“Oh. Hum, yeah, very, thanks for asking.” Annie stammers, taken aback.

“Great.” Jeff simply says.

“How… was the movie?” Annie then asks, trying to make conversation to avoid any awkwardness.

“Well, I couldn’t hear most of it over Britta’s sobs but it looked nice.”

“Poor Britta… I hope she’ll be okay.”

“She will be. She’s a tough one, I’m not afraid for her.”

Annie smiles and when she understands the conversation is over, she awkwardly waves at Jeff and turns back around to walk towards her bedroom. Before doing so, she meets Abed’s eyes. He is still sitting on the armchair and is now raising his eyebrows alarmingly fast at her. She rolls her eyes and races towards her room to be alone with her thoughts. As she does so, she can feel Jeff’s lingering look on her and it makes her shiver. She hates it, she hates it, she hates it. No, she doesn’t. Yes, she does. Maybe she doesn’t.

_UGH!_


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY HALLOWEEN, READERS!
> 
> The following chapter is kind of a "Halloween-centered theme", even though Halloween isn't the main point of the plot, it helps set it. It's a bit longer than what I usually provide but see it as a treat for Halloween. Hope you'll enjoy it! Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated :)
> 
> (As usual, a huge thanks to the Community Discord #fan-fic channel's folks, who always help me brainstorm and support my writing. Thank you all for hyping me into jumping in the Halloween-chapters train, it was a fun ride!)

When Annie leaves work that Friday afternoon, there is a huge poster on the front door reading “ _Happy Halloween, Denver P.D.! Go easy on the candy if you need to chase some monsters tomorrow_ ”. Annie scoffs lightly in front of this tacky joke and pushes the door open in order to walk towards the bus stop. Upon hearing footsteps behind her, she turns around and startles a little when she sees how close the person the footsteps belong to is to her.

“You in the Halloween spirit already, Edison?”

“Sorry, I didn’t notice you were behind me.” Annie says, chuckling nervously.

“My bad, I was about to call you before walking into your personal space like that but I wasn’t fast enough.”

“It’s okay Steven, guess that gets me into the Halloween spirit, indeed.”

Steven laughs softly at Annie’s joke and the two of them start walking together. The bus stop is precisely three minutes away from the station on foot but usually, Steven walks Annie there before going to his car, especially when it is already dark outside. It is a habit the two of them got since Annie started working there mid-September, hence the fact that they get along well now. Annie would consider Steven as a good friend if he was not his co-worker – she rather keep things professional and not mix personal and professional life. However, those little walks and chit-chats after work can be the highlights of her day sometimes.

“So what are your plans for the weekend?” Steven then asks her.

“Oh, we’re actually invited for a Halloween dinner tomorrow night with my roommates.” Annie answers cheerfully.

“Cool, sounds fun! Where are you guys headed to?”

“Our upstairs neighbor is throwing it at her place. I think some other people from the building have been invited too. Should be fun, I hope. What about you?”

“Oh, well, I was supposed to celebrate it with Flora and go to her best friend’s chalet in the mountain but… We broke up last week so I guess I’ll just binge-watch all the _Scream_ movies at my apartment, like a sad millennial.” Steven responds, pouting.

“Oh no, I had no idea you broke up with Flora!” Annie exclaims. “I’m so sorry.” She adds empathetically.

“It was a mutual decision, in all fairness.” Steven corrects, shrugging. “We broke up on amicable terms. As a matter of fact, she insisted I should still come with her to the party as friends but I just figured it would be too awkward.”

“Yeah, it would’ve been like rubbing salt in the wounds, you made the right decision.” Annie confirms with a wince. “I think Carl’s actually going to a party downtown, maybe you could crash with him? I’m sure he wouldn’t mind bringing you as a plus one.”

“Going to a party with Carl? Please, I’m not _that_ sad.” Steven jokes.

“Don’t exaggerate, Carl’s a nice guy!” Annie tells him after lightly punching him in the shoulder.

“Oh no he is, he’s a tremendous guy even, but he’s more of a ‘chill’ kind of person. I was looking forward to partying tomorrow. Anyway, I’ll see if Blake and Terrence are down for going to a pub or something. Damn, we had even bought couple’s costumes with Flora, I’m going to look lame as the Joker without his Harley Quinn…”

“ _That_ was your couple’s costumes? Well, good thing you broke up then.” Annie teases him.

“You’re mean, Edison.” Steven laughs while nudging her arm with his elbow.

“Not mean, just realistic.” Annie retorts as she sticks her tongue out at him. “Okay, the bus should be here in a few, thanks for walking with me, as always.”

“Of course, it was a pleasure, as always.”

Annie smiles and quickly hugs Steven goodbye before going to sit down and wait for the bus. Her thoughts wander and she realizes how excited she is for the party at Shirley’s. She has to admit, she would not have pictured Shirley Bennett, the gossipy upstairs neighbor, as the type of person who organizes a Halloween party but after all, she does not know her that much, apart from what Britta and the other roommates have told her. Maybe they will have a great time and have fun.

***

The next day, the inhabitants of the loft get ready for their Halloween dinner. As it was agreed beforehand – well, as Annie had decided and the others reluctantly agreed – they will go there dressed up in group’s costumes. Since there are five of them – Troy tags along, as usual –, they are dressing up as the Scooby gang because it is a group costume that is not too difficult and expensive to pull out, and also because Abed’s idea of dressing up as the Power Rangers has been unanimously rejected, much to his disappointment.

The choice of characters to portray was then not hard to decide. Britta insisted on being the assertive, intelligent, strong independent woman Velma, Jeff asserted he would only do it if he could dress up as Fred, as for Troy and Abed, they absolutely wanted to be a pair, therefore, Abed would dress up as Shaggy whereas Troy would dress up as Scooby-Doo. Thus, it leaves Daphne to Annie, but she does not complain, she is a fan of Sarah Michelle Gellar and her badass character, plus, she even gets to dress up in her favorite color too.

Just when Annie adjusts the purple headband on her recently straightened hair, she hears a knock on her bedroom door.

“Come in!” Annie shouts without looking away from her reflection.

She can hear the door opening from behind, therefore, she turns around to face a perfect replica of Velma.

“Wow Britta, you’re rocking that look!” Annie exclaims gleefully.

“Talk about yourself, hottie.” Britta retorts while approaching. “It’s like this outfit was meant for you to wear it.”

Annie laughs and both she and Britta stare at their own reflection in the mirror for a few seconds. Their costumes are DIY ideas that Annie has collected on Pinterest. She has printed some templates for each character and created a binder, which Jeff has teased her about but later admitted to be “super cute”. Annie is thus wearing a close-fitting purple dress with thin shoulder straps, falling right above her knees. Her legs are adorned with white tights and she is going to wear purple ballerinas. To complete the outfit, she has bought a green neckerchief and the purple headband in her hair.

As she puts a purple cardigan on, Annie now studies Britta’s costume. For her Velma outfit, Britta is wearing a large orange turtle-neck loosely tucked into a red skirt that also falls above her knees. Her tights are as orange as the turtle-neck and she wears black ballerinas. Britta also wears her reading-glasses for the occasion and her long blonde hair are hidden beneath a short brown wig with bangs. When Annie looks in the mirror, she smiles, satisfied to think that for DIY ideas, their costumes are pretty awesome.

“You know, if _Scooby-Doo_ hadn’t been made in the 70’s, Velma would’ve definitely been openly gay.” Britta points out as she adjusts her wig on her head.

“You think?” Annie asks.

“Obviously.” Britta bluntly answers.

Once Annie has put her shoes on, they both walk out of her room to meet the others in the living-room. Annie grins ear to ear when she sees Abed and Troy looking adorable in their Shaggy and Scooby-Doo outfits.

“Aww, you two look amazing!” Annie squeals happily.

Abed and Troy smile at her as Annie looks carefully at their costumes. Abed has decided to be an identical Shaggy and is thus wearing a loose green shirt and brown bell-bottom trousers with black boots. As for Troy, not too keen on buying an actual dog costume, he made the decision to adapt the costume a little and is therefore wearing a brown shirt and black pants with brown sneakers. He wears funny brown dog ears as a headband on his head and has drawn a little black dot on his nose. To complete the costume, he has a blue neckerchief around his neck to represent Scooby-Doo’s collar.

“Damn, is this weird that I find Scooby-Doo hot now?” Britta whispers to Annie while looking at Troy.

“It’s… a little unsettling but I can understand why.” Annie whispers back, smirking a little.

“You two look great.” Abed tells Britta and Annie, studying their outfits too. “We chose our costumes wisely.”

“Thanks Abed.” Britta says, bowing a little. “I guess that we’re going to wait for Jeff, as usual?”

“He’s almost done, I think.” Troy points out.

It is 7.25 P.M. when Jeff meets them in the living-room, completing the Scooby gang’s group costumes. Britta sighs when she sees him and points at the clock above the front door.

“We’re expected to be there in five minutes, thank you for finally honoring us with your presence, Winger.” Britta sarcastically tells him.

“Chill Perry, we just have to walk up a few stairs to be there, we’re going to be at Shirley’s apartment right on time.” Jeff points out.

Afterwards, Jeff meets Annie’s eyes and the both of them start looking at each other’s outfits in silence as Britta, Troy and Abed are taking the food they have to bring to Shirley’s out of the fridge. It is not surprising at all but Jeff looks incredibly handsome as Fred. He is wearing a fancy white shirt with light blue jeans and brown-beige derbies. An orange neckerchief is around his neck and everything suits him so well Annie can’t take her eyes off him. She notices it looks the same for him, therefore, she gathers her courage and is the first one to break their eye-contact.

“Alright, let’s go party people!” Britta exclaims as she hands Annie the pumpkin pie they bought at the store.

“To the Mystery Machine, Scooby gang!” Abed exclaims in a nasal voice.

Jeff rolls his eyes at Abed and Troy’s enthusiasm and as Britta and Annie lead the way arm in arm, Jeff locks the loft’s front door behind them. Precisely three minutes later, they are in front of Shirley’s door and Britta knocks three times on it.

“It is 7.29, we’re even early.” Jeff tells Britta to poke her.

Britta nudges him, her jaw clenched. Only a few seconds later, the front door opens and the group is welcomed by a “He is risen!” apron.

“Good evening, my dear neigh –”

Shirley’s singing greeting is interrupted by nobody other than herself when she stares incredulously at the five grinning people in front of her.

“Is something wrong, Shirley?” Britta asks her, frowning.

“Oh. Uh, it’s nothing, honey.” Shirley stammers, putting on a smile. “I was just… surprised by your outfits, that’s all.”

“Well, we’ve decided to pull out group’s costumes for the occasion.” Annie chimes in excitingly. “I think we nailed it, right?”

“I’m sorry dear, hmm… group’s costumes?” Shirley repeats, looking dumbfounded. “For what occasion?”

“Well… For Halloween.” Annie clarifies, smiling nervously.

Shirley widens her eyes and suddenly looks disconcerted. She lets out a quiet “oh” and grins nervously.

“Oh sweetie, I think there’s been a misunderstanding here.” Shirley tells Annie.

“Annie, didn’t you say Shirley invited us to a Halloween party?” Jeff then asks Annie.

“Well… That’s what I thought, because she invited us on the 31st so it kind of made sense to me.” Annie answers in a high-pitched voice, embarrassed.

“Oh no, we do _not_ celebrate Halloween in this house.” Shirley contradicts in a raspy voice. “My ex-husband used to go trick or treating with our children when they were little kids but that was the closest to celebrating that Satanist holiday we ever did.”

After that explanation, an awkward silence follows and nobody looks eager to be the first one to break it. Luckily, at the same time, another guest arrives and deflects attention from them. When they hear an appreciative whistle from behind them, they all turn around simultaneously to look at Ian Duncan, wearing a long dark cape above regular clothes. He smiles with his mouth open, which allows them to notice the fake vampire teeth he has put over his regular ones.

“Won’t you take a look at these fancy people over here!” Ian exclaims joyfully.

“Lord, help me.” Shirley mumbles, her eyes up towards the ceiling.

“Well, this is awkward.” Abed comments out loud.

***

Shirley’s not-Halloween dinner party started off on the wrong foot but eventually, the atmosphere is a little bit lighter. Even though Shirley almost gasped out of horror when Britta unwrapped the spooky witches’ fingers made of cookie dough and almonds she had cooked with Troy in the afternoon, things ease off as soon as Matthew, Shirley’s new husband, starts making jokes and trying to make everyone comfortable. He even congratulates the Scooby gang on their great group costumes, which originally makes Shirley scowl but after two glasses of red wine, she looks like she finally got used to it.

“So, for dinner tonight, Matthew wanted to cook for us so I’m going to let him tell you what is on the menu.” Shirley proudly announces as Matthew plants a kiss on her cheek.

“Aww.” Annie sighs, softened by their gestures of affection towards one another.

“Alright kiddos, first we’ll have a modest salad with breaded goat cheese, crispy onions and dried tomatoes.” Matthew starts detailing, a kitchen towel elegantly folded on his arm. “Then, for the main course, there will be honey-glazed spiced roast chicken, or a spiced aubergine bake for our vegetarian friends,” Matthew adds while winking at Britta, who smiles happily, “with confit potatoes on the side. And for dessert, we’ll be having that delicious pumpkin pie our loft friends have brought us.”

Everyone starts applauding, impatient to taste all this delicious food Matthew has just described. As he is serving the salad, everyone takes their seat while Shirley goes around to offer them more wine. On that great table, Annie ends up sitting between Ian and Britta, while Jeff sits right in front of her. She shares a look with Jeff and when he smiles at her, she feels like her heart drops to her stomach. Abed’s speech from the week before has not left Annie’s thoughts, even though she tries her hardest to forget it but in this instant, sitting in front of that man she can’t help but find annoyingly attractive, Annie realizes it is much more difficult than she thought it would be.

“Psst, Annie!” She hears on her left.

Annie turns her head to face Ian, who incites her to lean over him so he can whisper in her ear. Frowning, she complies and feels his breath tickling her neck before he starts speaking.

“Would you mind switching places and allowing me to sit next to our dear Britta?” Ian asks her in a whisper.

“Why so secretive, guys?” Britta chimes in ironically. “Share your thoughts with us, Ian, I’m sure they’re enlightening.”

Ian’s cheeks start blushing lightly and he stammers something incoherent before giving up and staring at his still empty plate. Annie turns her head on her right to look at Britta, who winks at her. Annie chuckles lightly and soon enough, with newly filled glasses of red wine, everyone starts eating with appetite the delicious meal Matthew has prepared. The compliments rain on him, which seems to please his ego.

“I don’t know if I ever told you this but Matthew used to be a chef in a French restaurant.” Shirley proudly tells everyone, holding Matthew’s hand in hers as he looks at her with soft eyes and a light smile.

“Ooh, was it in Paris?” Annie asks with excitement in her voice.

“I wish.” Matthew sighs before chuckling. “It was actually in San Francisco, but the owner was a French expat. He made the best _gratin dauphinois_ you could ever get. I’ll make you guys some one day, if you want.”

Everyone starts nodding vigorously at that offer, even though they have no idea what a _gratin dauphinois_ is, but Matthew’s cooking is so exquisite they now trust him with anything.

“So, I believe we have a newbie tonight.” Matthew then comments before looking at Annie. “We haven’t been properly introduced yet.”

“Oh, right.” Annie approves, her skin burning under the newest attention on her. “I’m Annie, I moved into the loft a few weeks ago.”

“Nice to meet you, Annie.” Matthew says with a kind smile. “What can you tell us about you?”

“Oh, hmm, well…” Annie stammers, a bit uncomfortable. “I’m a forensics agent at Denver P.D.”

“Fascinating!” Matthew exclaims, suddenly interested. “What does that mean exactly?”

“Well, basically, I’m working with a team in the scientific and IT departments of the precinct to examine evidence linked to cases the police is working on.” Annie explains as briefly as possible. “It can be objects like a phone, a flash drive, a computer, or substances like a footprint, for example.”

“That sounds very interesting.” Matthew nods.

“It is.” Annie confirms. “I’m barely out of college, though, which is why I moved into the loft, I’m still on a low salary and can’t afford my own place yet.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re on a low salary then because it got us to meet you.” Britta tells her before quickly hugging her.

Annie briefly hugs her back as she lets out her signature “aww”, touched by Britta’s comment.

“That’s nice.” Shirley coos at the sight of Britta and Annie hugging. “It’s great to see how things are going with your new roommate after the disaster that was your previous one.”

Shirley’s comment seems to unnerve Jeff, Britta, Troy and Abed, who simply clear their throats or look away in response. Annie exchanges a confused look with Ian, and she understands he does not know what to say to salvage this either. Thankfully, Matthew looks like he is used to his wife’s disruptive remarks.

“I hope you all enjoyed your salad but still left room for what’s coming next!” Matthew exclaims joyfully before standing up and going to the kitchen. “Shirley, my sunshine, would you come with me and give me a hand, please?”

Shirley seems to understand the innuendo and simply complies with a straight face. The married couple then moves towards the kitchen together, leaving the guests alone with a feeling of discomfort.

“So is this how you Americans celebrate Halloween, then?” Ian asks to change the subject of the conversation.

“Not really. In college, Halloween was the perfect occasion to get drunk and hook up with girls in sexy vampire costumes.” Troy remarks.

“Oh really?” Britta immediately says. “I’d be curious to see what a ‘sexy vampire costume’ looks like.”

“Well, I don’t know Brit, it’s just a vampire costume on a sexy girl.” Troy retorts, apparently annoyed.

“This is really upsetting.” Britta starts railing. “Like, when you’re in a store and you look for Halloween costumes, when you’re into the men’s section, they have all these cool costumes for Frankenstein, vampires, wizards or whatever, and then, when you move to the women’s section, you just have short pieces of clothing with two blood stains on them to make them Halloween-y, it’s outrageous.”

“Why do you have to make everything sexist, Britta?” Jeff points out, arms crossed against his chest.

“Because it _is_ sexist, Jeff!” Britta revolts. “Here, try it – type ‘Halloween costumes for girls’ and ‘Halloween costumes for boys’ on the Internet, you’ll see the difference right away.”

To prove her point, Britta instantly stands up and goes next to Jeff to look up on his phone with him what she just said. By the time Shirley and Matthew are back, it looks like they all have already forgotten about Shirley’s uncomfortable comment on Emma.

As time passes, the conversations get going, the plates get emptied, the wine glasses get refilled and emptied right away. When they are all done eating the main course, everyone gives a hand to Shirley and Matthew and helps them take everything back to the kitchen. Annie offers to wash some dishes right away in order to make room in the dishwasher while the others clean the table in the living-room and assemble the leftovers together before putting them in the fridge. As Annie is almost done washing the plates, Matthew stands beside her to grab some dessert plates in the top cupboard above the sink.

“Thanks for doing that Annie, it’s really kind of you.” Matthew suddenly tells her.

“Oh please, don’t thank me, you’ve cooked a delicious meal for all of us, it’s normal.” Annie instantly retorts with a smile.

“You’re a delight. Jeffrey’s lucky to be with a woman like you.”

Annie stiffens with the sponge and a plate in her hands. She slowly turns around to face Matthew, who seems surprised by her reaction.

“What do you mean?” Annie asks him.

“Oh. Hmm. I’m sorry, have I made a mistake? I just thought…” Matthew stammers, waving his hands around to look for words. “You know, you’re Daphne, he’s Fred. The stolen glances…”

“Well, we all dressed up as the Scooby gang, so… It’s not…”

Annie is at a loss for words too. She licks her lower lip as Matthew clears his throat and nervously chuckles.

“Man, I’m as tactless as my gorgeous wife, aren’t I?” Matthew laughs, scraping the back of his neck.

“It’s okay, you didn’t know.” Annie reassures him, even though she feels weird.

Matthew gently pats her shoulder as a way of apologizing, Annie assumes, and he then leaves her side to go back to the dining room, where everyone is. When Annie is finally alone, she slightly opens her mouth and exhales quietly.

“Stolen glances?” She mumbles to herself, washing vigorously the plate she has in hands.

***

When the kitchen and the dining table are finally clean enough, the little band of merry people moves the party to the living-room. Matthew puts the rest of the pumpkin pie along with some candies on the coffee table while everyone sits around it, either on the couch, the armchairs or their armrests. Therefore, Annie finds herself sitting on one armrest as Abed sits in the armchair, Britta is on the other armchair while Ian is “conveniently” sitting on its armrest, as for Jeff, Matthew, Troy and Shirley, they all sit on the couch in that particular order.

“Alright boys, who fancies a good old cigar?” Matthew suddenly suggests while grabbing a wooden box underneath the coffee table.

“Most certainly, thank you very much.” Ian immediately responds.

“Me too.” Jeff adds, raising his hand in the air.

“Aren’t you supposed to not smoke when you’re on a low-carb diet?” Troy wonders out loud, confused.

“Well, technically you are but let’s just say it’s a little transgression.” Jeff shrugs.

“Technically, you’re not supposed to drink alcohol either.” Abed points out with a smile.

“Make it two transgressions, then.” Jeff jokes, making Matthew laugh heartily.

“Do I need to have a penis if I want to smoke one too?” Britta chimes in, raising her hand in the air too.

“God Britta, I love you but please, stop doing that.” Jeff complains with an expressive wince on his face.

“It’s okay, she’s right, I misworded my question.” Matthew ensures. “Ladies, do you want one too?”

Britta nods vigorously whereas Annie firmly shakes her head from left to right. Afterwards, Matthew gives a cigar to Jeff, then Ian, and finally, Britta. He grabs one too and is about to light his own when Shirley exaggeratedly clears her throat.

“What?” Matthew asks with the cigar in his mouth, visibly confused.

“You know the rule, honey.” Shirley reminds him.

“Oh right. Let’s move to the balcony people!” Matthew exclaims.

After standing up and starting to walk towards said balcony, Matthew is swiftly followed by whoever holds a cigar in their hand. Even though they don’t have one, Abed and Troy seem curious and decide to go with them. As a result, Annie is left alone in the living-room, in her Daphne from _Scooby-Doo_ costume, with a smiling Shirley. This is really not how she thought her Halloween evening would go.

“So, An-nie,” Shirley softly says, “is everything going well for you?”

“Sure, thanks for asking Shirley.” Annie nervously responds with a forced smile. “And, hmm, what about you?”

“Oh, I’m fine but who cares about me? I want to know all about your life in the loft.”

Annie watches Shirley gently smile at her while she taps the empty place in the couch next to her, silently inviting Annie to sit next to her. Annie hesitantly stands up and goes towards the couch to sit down next to Shirley. A little voice in her head is yelling that it is probably not a good idea, that she should be careful about what she is going to talk about with Shirley. Britta’s voice resonates in her ears as she folds her purple dress on her thighs, waiting for Shirley to say something.

“You look like you’re going along well with everybody.” Shirley remarks with a soft smile.

“I am, actually.” Annie vaguely ensures.

“You and Brit-ta look close too, that’s nice.” Shirley continues.

“I guess we do.” Annie simply says.

“Good for you, sweetie.” Shirley nods. “Oh, where are my manners, do you want another glass of wine?”

“Oh hmm no thanks, I’ll just have a glass of water please.” Anne quickly responds.

“Sure, just one second.”

Shirley gets up from the couch and walks towards the kitchen, leaving Annie alone for a bit to breathe out and take a mental break. She takes advantage of this time to check her phone and when she scrolls through her Facebook’s timeline, she sees Steven has posted a picture of him dressed up as the Joker, alongside Blake and Terrence, her other coworkers, both dressed up as Sheldon and Howard from _The Big Bang Theory_. Annie smiles at their silly faces and likes the picture before putting her phone down when she hears Shirley coming back. She hands Annie a glass of water while holding a glass of wine in her other hand.

“Thanks.” Annie tells Shirley while she sits back down.

“Of course.” Shirley coos lightly. “You’re a sweetheart, Annie. I’m glad we get to spend time just the two of us. To get to know each other.”

“You’re so nice Shirley, thank you for having us all tonight.” Annie replies with a smile.

“Oh but the pleasure is all mine. I hope you’re settling in just fine in your new living place.”

“I made my marks quite easily, actually. Everyone was very welcoming from the beginning so I felt comfortable right away.”

“That’s great. When I ran into you and Brit-ta in the elevator a few weeks ago, I was afraid the situation would be tense for you, since you’ve arrived barely after that girl Emma’s departure.”

Annie’s jaw tightens a little bit at yet another mention of Emma. She is getting tired of all these people reminiscing over and over again about that girl without being explicit regarding what she did exactly that got her to leave the loft in a hurry.

“Well, nothing’s tense, everyone’s great with me.” Annie ensures between gritted teeth.

“That’s good to hear, honey.” Shirley softly says. “I’m sure they’re all delighted to have a roommate like you. You look very sweet and much more sympathetic than Em –“

“You know, Shirley,” Annie interrupts her, suddenly annoyed, “I don’t mean to be rude, especially not to you because you’re our host and you’re very kind, but I keep hearing these blurry anecdotes about that Emma since I’ve moved in without even knowing what the fuss is really about and it’s actually starting to really get on my nerves.”

Annie realizes her fists are clenched to the point her fingernails are hurting her palms when Shirley gives her a look of utter confusion. Therefore, Annie calms down and takes it down a notch, breathing slowly and making an effort to put on a smile.

“Sorry.” Annie then breathes out, slightly embarrassed because of the way she has reacted in front of Shirley.

“It’s okay honey, I can tell it was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.” Shirley reassures her gently, putting a hand over hers.

“It’s just that… It’s like everyone hates this person and yet, they talk about her all the time, and when I wonder what happened, they won’t even tell me why, because they’re like, ‘it’s still a touchy subject, we don’t like to talk about it’, then why are you _constantly_ talking about it if it’s really bothering you??”

Annie is fully aware that she is starting to rant, to ramble, that doing it with Shirley listening will probably backfire eventually, but in the moment, she does not care, because she is sick of being endlessly compared to Emma, even though she has no idea who she is. Annie does not even feel like her roommates see her as Annie, she feels like they see her as the new Emma. And she does not want that. Annie is her own person, she deserves to be recognized as such.

Also, she can see Jeff taking a puff of his cigar from afar and even when he does such a hideous thing as smoking, he looks terribly attractive and it pisses Annie off even more.

“You know what?” Annie suddenly says, facing Shirley again. “On second thought, I could use that refill of wine.”

“Oh, of course my dear, I had a feeling you might change your mind about that.” Shirley replies with a mischievous smile on her face.

***

It is almost midnight when Annie checks her phone for the first time in, probably, hours. She feels a little lighter – and maybe a bit dizzy – from the couple of wine glasses she has just drunk with Shirley, but she also feels like a huge weight has been taken off her shoulders and it is appeasing.

When they came back from the balcony, Matthew has put some soft jazz music in the background, which seems to have broken the ice once and for all between everyone. That Halloween-Not-Halloween party ends up being more entertaining than it originally seemed and from the looks of it, the guests are nowhere near getting back home that early.

“You know, An-nie, maybe you should be honest and open up to your roommates about everything you’ve just told me.” Shirley confidently tells Annie while everyone else around them minds their own business. “Honesty and forgiveness are the keys to healthy relationships, and most of all, to Heaven.”

“Well, I’m not sure it’s my place to say those things yet.” Annie contradicts, putting her now finished glass of wine down on the coffee table. “I mean, I haven’t been living with them that long, we’re probably not close enough to have those kind of conversations.”

“So you’re just going to let them reminisce about that girl over and over, even though it pains you?” Shirley points out, one of her eyebrows raised.

“It’s not that it pains me per say, it’s… I don’t know, I… Maybe I should just ignore it and stop asking questions about it.” Annie shrugs.

“Maybe _they_ should stop talking about it if they don’t want you to ask questions, then.” Shirley corrects sassily.

Annie giggles at Shirley’s comment, which makes the woman giggle too. They look like two gossips, sitting like this on the couch with an emptied wine of glass each and some plaid thrown over their legs to keep them warm. But Annie does not mind – it is actually quite nice. And her Daphne costume is not actually comfortable and warm, to be honest.

“But seriously An-nie, you should tell them eventually.” Shirley adds in a more serious tone. “I’m not trying to pressure you here but as a good Christian woman, I feel like it’s my duty to help a misguided soul when encountered. And honey, you do look like one right now.”

Annie sighs, not sure if Shirley’s words are more comforting or offensive. Her eyes wander around the room before laying on Jeff, chatting with Ian and Matthew in the corner of the room. The three of them are laughing heartily together, probably over some corny British joke Ian has just said.

Just like he could feel her gaze sliding on him, Jeff turns his head to look at Annie, who immediately looks away. She does not want to get lost into his eyes. Not right now. Not ever. Or maybe not _not_ ever. But definitely not right now, at least.

“Oh sweetie, trust me, you don’t want to go down that road.” Shirley suddenly says in a raspy voice.

“Wh – Sorry, what?” Annie stammers, disconcerted.

Shirley slightly tilts her head towards Jeff. When Annie’s eyes follow the lead, Jeff is no longer looking at her and back to focusing on Ian and Matthew. When Annie looks at Shirley again, she has a displeased look on her face.

“Don’t get me wrong, Jeffrey’s a charming man.” Shirley ensures after focusing on Annie again. “But Lord help me, when it comes to the ladies, he is definitely not virtuous.”

“I assume you’re referring to Emma, aren’t you?” Annie guesses in a plain voice.

“That, I am.” Shirley nods. “I believe these two sinned the minute Jeffrey moved into the loft. Well, manner of speaking but you know what I mean, you’re a smart girl.”

“I just know Jeff and Emma were dating and things ended badly.” Annie sums up, feeling like some knots are forming in her stomach.

“Badly, you say? Oh honey, if you could’ve heard those two arguing.” Shirley sighs. “I live right above you all, I couldn’t miss it.”

Annie swallows hardly at that statement. Was it really _that_ bad between Jeff and Emma?

“Did Jeff… cheat on her or something?” Annie makes assumptions, suddenly anxious at that thought.

“I don’t think so, the poor man seemed rather besotted with the girl, if you ask me.” Shirley contradicts. “I just gathered they had lots of disagreements, so things were tensed most of the time. I assume that’s why she moved out eventually.”

Annie bites her lower lip a little hard and her hands squeeze her thighs, hidden under the blanket. She can feel something growing inside of her and even though she tries to repress it, it grows bigger and bigger, and eventually, there is nothing she can do to refrain it. She is just so sick of talking about Emma all the freaking time, she can’t take it anymore.

“To be frank, I’m not sure this little business of theirs could have kept going on any longer.” Shirley keeps talking, visibly not noticing Annie’s reactions. “I mean, Lord forgive me for what I’m about to say but when these two were not arguing, they were just _doing_ it. Again. And again. And again. I told you An-nie, I live right above you all, I can hear stuff. And _that_ stuff, trust me when I say, I definitely heard it. Multiple times.”

Annie’s knots in her stomach start untying and tying again, all together, at such a rapid length it burns her inside. She throws another look at Jeff and suddenly, Abed’s words start playing in her mind again, for the billionth time this week. She really can’t take it anymore.

“I don’t even know how it’s humanly possible to want to do it this much.” Shirley keeps rambling, even though Annie is now half-listening. “And it’s so ungodly, too. Lord help me, I even caught them in the elevator onc –“

“Yeah, I’ve heard that story before.” Annie interrupts her bluntly.

“Is everything okay, honey?” Shirley asks in a concerned voice.

“Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”

Suddenly, the room’s temperature is too hot for her to handle and Annie frees herself from the blanket, standing up and exhaling sharply.

“Actually, I think I’m a little bit tired now.” Annie lies. “I’m probably going to go home, if that’s okay.”

“Of course, it’s starting to get a little bit late, after all.” Shirley approves, standing up as well. “Are you sure you’re going to be fine, sweetie? I truly hope our conversation didn’t make you feel bad or anything. I would blame myself for making you run away.”

“On the contrary, our conversation was very enlightening Shirley.” Annie guarantees assertively.

Shirley gives Annie a weak smile, obviously not convinced. Annie then grabs her cardigan and her purse as fast as she can so that she can leave the apartment swiftly. Unfortunately, Britta has seen her and instantly hails her.

“Hey Annie, you’re leaving already?” Britta asks in a disappointed voice.

Annie hates Britta for a hot second because suddenly, the whole room’s attention is directed towards her when she was just trying to leave quietly, and Jeff’s confused look is annoying her more than she would like it to.

“Yeah, I’m kind of tired actually, I’m going to go to bed.” Annie makes up, avoiding Jeff’s gaze.

“Do you want us to walk you back, Annie?” Troy suggests, while pointing at Abed and himself.

“It’s okay Troy thanks. I live right downstairs after all.” Annie chuckles briefly. “Thank you so much for everything you did tonight, it was a great dinner party.” She adds, looking respectively at Shirley, then Matthew.

“It was lovely to have you here, An-nie.” Shirley coos softly. “I hope we’ll be able to see each other soon.”

“Agreed.” Matthew smiles at Annie. “Take care, have a good night.”

“Thanks.” Annie simply says. “See you guys back at the apartment.” Annie says to the others.

Once she has waved at everyone quickly and they have waved back at her, Annie takes the occasion to leave the room. She feels like she is burning under a certain someone’s persistent gaze but she is determined to ignore it. She does not want to acknowledge him, otherwise, she might turn around and say or do things she could regret later on.

***

Annie would not have thought she would be so relieved to finally take her Daphne costume off and slide into her pajamas. And yet, the soft fabric of her comfortable pajamas makes her sigh dreamily in this instant.

Before going to bed, Annie walks towards the kitchen in order to make herself some herbal tea to calm her nerves down and help her sleep. Even though she pretexted she was sleepy to get out of the party, she is not that eager to go to bed at the moment, therefore, a little something to help her relax would definitely help.

As Annie is on her way to the kitchen, she hears the sound of the keys coming from the front door. She assumes her roommates are back, however, there is only one figure standing in the living-room when the door locks again behind it, and Annie is immediately annoyed when she sees who it is.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Annie tries to keep her composure as Jeff walks towards her. She crosses her arms against her chest, tilting her head up to look more assertive.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Annie briefly answers.

“Are you sure?” Jeff insists, visibly concerned. “You left in quite a hurry and… Maybe I’m overanalyzing things but you also looked kind of mad.”

Annie purses her lips at that statement but does not answer verbally, which Jeff immediately notices. He used to be a lawyer after all, he must be able to read the body’s language well enough, Annie thinks to herself.

“Okay, looks like I haven’t overanalyzed things after all.” Jeff adds, getting slowly closer to Annie.

“Look Jeff, I was going to go to bed, I assume you were too if you’re already back here.” Annie says, trying to change the subject.

Jeff snorts and runs a hand through his hair in a nervous gesture. Annie squints her eyes because the discreet lighting above the stovetop leaves the whole room in a somewhat dark atmosphere and she tries to read Jeff’s expressions on his face to understand what this is all really about.

“Actually, I… I came down here to check on you.” Jeff eventually confesses.

Annie stiffens and purses her lips even more. Her arms are so tight against her body it almost physically hurts her. She can no longer deny it, what has been growing inside of her at the party is now fully a part of her and she can’t dismiss it or fail to acknowledge it.

“Well, I don’t want you to check on me, Jeff.” Annie blurts out. “I’m a grown woman, I can take care of myself.”

“I never said you weren’t, I was just worried about y –“

“Then don’t be.” Annie interrupts him.

“Okay, hmm, what the hell Annie??” Jeff then exclaims, sounding upset. “What is this about? You know what? I just thought you were mad because of something Shirley might have said because I know she can be intrusive sometimes and she’s the specialist at making you feel guilty about things, and I was afraid you might feel bad about it, hence the fact that I wanted to make sure you were okay but now, I’m starting to think your anger may not be directed towards her. Am I wrong?”

“I’m not angry Jeff, I just want to go to bed, is that too much to ask?” Annie denies, feeling a lump in her throat and an unpleasant feeling boiling in her stomach.

“I don’t understand why you’re being rude to me like that out of nowhere.” Jeff admits, his voice getting higher from the bewilderment. “You think I haven’t noticed the dirty looks you were giving me back at Shirley’s?”

“Not everything has to be about you, Jeff.” Annie sighs, rolling her eyes.

“Did Shirley tell you something about me?” Jeff asks, ignoring Annie’s biting remark. “You two talked for a while and the dirty looks began right after that. What did you talk about? If this is about the time she saw me accidentally putting plastic in the glass recycling bin, it truly was a careless mistake, I wasn’t being too lazy to recycle properly!”

Annie huffs out of frustration and pushes her hair back with her two hands, avoiding Jeff’s inquisitive gaze. She can hear the kettle’s whistling increasing from the kitchen but the sound of her own heartbeat echoing in her ears distracts her from actually acknowledging it.

“I don’t want to talk about it, I just want to go to sleep.” Annie insists.

“Hah, so there _is_ something to talk about, then.” Jeff picks up on, pointing a finger at Annie.

“Ugh Jeff, seriously?” Annie exclaims, irritated. “Can’t you read the room and see that I don’t want to talk to you right now?”

“I can definitely read the room, in fact, I understand very well the room is literally screaming at me to go fuck myself but trust me Annie, I’ve had to deal with people way more stubborn than you in my career, so you’re not going to push me back at all.”

As Annie’s boiling rage is threatening to free itself from her body, she realizes how close they are to each other in this moment, as if they have subconsciously moved closer to one another and the feeling of Jeff’s body being so close to hers is almost unbearable.

“You’re really getting on my nerves right now.” Annie tells him in a trembling voice.

“Yeah? Tell me more about that, please, I’m dying to know why.” Jeff retorts sarcastically.

“I don’t know Jeff, it’s just you being you, I guess.”

“Care to elaborate?”

Annie scoffs and raises her arms before letting them drop against her body in an annoyed way. Abed’s words suddenly resonate in her brain, so loudly they are impossible to ignore.

_“You eventually won’t want to have these feelings and will get mad about it because you’re aware of the golden rule and things are going so well for you now that you don’t want to ruin everything simply for Jeff’s beautiful eyes.”_

Annie does not want Abed to be right, she really does not want him to. She does not want to prove his point. Then, why is she feeling like she could scream at the entire world right now?

“Fine, Shirley _did_ talk to me about you.” Annie eventually concedes.

“I knew it.” Jeff whispers angrily.

“She talked about you and Emma.”

Annie notices how Jeff’s face goes blank at the mention of Emma’s name and it does nothing more than upsetting her.

“God, I don’t understand what is up with all of you and your old roommate!” Annie lets out, irritated.

“What do you mean?” Jeff asks, confused.

“What do I mean?” Annie repeats before scoffing. “I mean you’re all making a big mystery out of this, like she’s some sort of evil witch or something, and then, you say you don’t want to talk about it because it’s a touchy subject or whatever, while still talking about it all the freaking time without ever explaining what happened with her and it’s really annoying to get caught in the middle of all of this!”

“To get caught in the middle?” Jeff repeats, dumbfounded. “Annie, none of us involved you in this, this is precisely why we are not letting you in on this. I don’t understand why this is bothering you so much.”

“I’m sorry, maybe you didn’t realize that basically everyone in this building is talking to _me_ about how you used to get it on with her everywhere, all the time.” Annie throws.

“What?” Jeff exclaims. “That’s ridiculous, it’s nobody’s business.”

“So you agree. When it’s not your business, it’s irritating to hear about it all. the. time.” Annie says, separating her words by a second long’s silence.

“Annie, it’s not my fault people gossip behind my back.” Jeff points out. “Why are you mad at me because of this?”

“I’m not mad at you Jeff, I’m mad at the situation!” Annie contradicts, her voice starting to get higher to cover the sound of the kettle whistling even louder.

“That’s bullshit, you’re clearly mad at me!” Jeff retorts, talking louder too.

“Okay! What if I am?” Annie exclaims, her face getting closer to Jeff’s with each biting sentence.

“It doesn’t make sense, Annie! You’re mad at me because people tell you about my ex-girlfriend? It’s crazy!”

“I’m mad at you because I hate that you’re such a womanizer, Jeff!”

“What??” Jeff yells in a shocked high-pitched voice. “How does me having my previous roommate as an ex-girlfriend make me a womanizer?”

“I hate that you hit on the new roommate as soon as she moved into the loft!” Annie screams, not answering Jeff’s question. “I hate that everyone is still talking about the fact that you were sleeping together in the common areas! I hate that you two breaking up made her move out! I hate that I don’t know why, that I don’t know what happened, that everyone is talking about it all the time and that I’m just assuming the worst about you because why would she move out? Did you cheat on her? Did you make a fool out of her? Did you disrespect her in any way? It’s making me crazy to think about it and try to guess what happened, to think about you all the freaking time without being able to get you off my mind!”

A beat. Annie realizes how loud she was speaking when the whistle of the kettle turns off, meaning the water is finally boiled. There is now a suffocating silence in the apartment and it’s so agonizing Annie can barely breathe.

Jeff is just looking at her, speechless. Annie herself does not even know what to say. Her ridiculous burst seems excessive now and she is thus nervously waiting for Jeff’s reaction.

“Jeff, I’m –“ Annie starts saying.

Annie’s words get crushed by Jeff’s lips colliding with hers. She does not even try to push him away and gives into the kiss by grabbing him by the collar and sticking her body against his. All the rage and anger she was feeling burning inside of her strangely fuel her desire to dive into him, to run her fingers through his messy hair, to let him lift her up and wrap her legs around his waist. Before she can fully realize what is going on, Jeff has pushed her against the nearest wall and is holding her in his arms like his life depends on it, like he is clinging onto her, both physically and emotionally.

The kiss gets even more intense, more passionate, more demanding. Annie feels Jeff’s hands venturing on her body as if he is discovering a hidden treasure he has been craving for too long. There is electricity in the air, Annie is ecstatic and the taste of Jeff’s lips against hers is exulting. She does not want it to ever stop and it is making her even more infuriated.

Suddenly, they hear muffled voices coming from behind the door and the tingling sound of the keys going into the lock of the front door. Just like that, their lips part from each other and Annie lets her feet fall back to the ground while Jeff steps away ridiculously fast from her. Once they have put a reasonable distance between them, the front door opens and the muffled sounds of Britta, Abed and Troy’s voices become distinct enough to indicate they are now in the apartment with them.

“Wow!” Britta yells, flinching at the sight of Jeff and Annie in the dim light of the room. “Guys, you scared the shit out of me!”

Breathless, Annie is quietly looking for air before answering Britta but she is outrun by Troy.

“Why were you two standing in the dark in the middle of the room?” Troy asks while Abed turns the light on.

“I, uh…” Annie begins, at a loss for words.

“I was…” Jeff says simultaneously.

Annie starts panicking when she sees the way Britta and Troy squint suspiciously at their hesitation. Luckily, Jeff looks like he is recovering from their heated kiss better than she is.

“I was just going to grab a glass of water and Annie walked in to make herself a cup of tea and we actually both startled each other.” Jeff lies, laughing to make it convincing. “It’s definitely not a good idea to stay in the dark when it’s Halloween, right?”

Annie looks at her roommates to see if they buy Jeff’s lie. After a few seconds that seem like eternity, Troy grins ear to ear and Britta rolls her eyes.

“I wish I could’ve seen you two jumping out of fear at the same time.” Troy chuckles.

“I guess this is why lights have been invented.” Britta sarcastically remarks.

“How come you’re all back already?” Jeff asks to deflect attention from Annie and him.

“Abed wanted to watch a horror movie at midnight and believe it or not, Shirley was _not_ a big fan of the idea.” Britta tells him sarcastically in response.

“Yeah, we haven’t been going full-on Halloween in this episode, contrary to what we originally thought.” Abed explains, pouting disappointingly. “But we still have time to fix that. What do you guys think, _The Conjuring_ or _The Blair Witch Project_?”

“I think I’m going to pass.” Jeff responds.

“Boo, poor little Jeff is scared of ghosts!” Britta taunts him in a baby voice.

“No I’m not, I see your face every day and at some point, you get used to it.” Jeff bites back.

Britta lightly punches Jeff in the shoulder, which makes him smirk. With no further ado, Britta, Abed and Troy go towards the couch and pick a movie to watch. Meanwhile, Annie shares a deep look with Jeff, still shaking from the intensity of their kiss. She swallows hardly and slowly licks her lower lip, still feeling the taste of Jeff’s mouth against hers. She forces her legs to move, one after the other, in order to go back to her room and compose herself.

“Annie?” Abed hails her from the couch.

“Yeah?” Annie responds, trying to sound casual.

“Didn’t you originally go to the kitchen to make yourself a cup of tea?”

Annie freezes and looks helplessly at Britta and Troy looking curiously at her. She smiles awkwardly and turns around to walk to the kitchen and pour the boiled water from the kettle into a mug. After putting an herbal teabag into the water and seeing it changing color, she grabs the mug and flees to her bedroom, quickly waving good night at her roommates. She does not bother checking if Jeff has also left the living-room and locks herself in her room. After putting the mug on her nightstand, she lets herself fall on her bed and scream into her pillow.

At the same time, in the living-room, Abed smirks as the movie title comes on screen and whispers:

“Here goes the anger stage.”

“What’s that?” Troy asks him.

“Nothing.” Abed says.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter!!
> 
> Some drama's along the way after what happened between our two dorky idiots last chapter... Keep in mind endings are always happy with me so don't hate on me just yet, even after finishing reading that chapter :p
> 
> Okay, no spoilers, hope you'll enjoy your reading! Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated :)
> 
> (As usual, a huge thanks to the Community Discord #fan-fics channel for their endless support and help, these guys are the best!)

The morning after the Halloween-Not-Halloween dinner party at Shirley’s, Annie wakes up rather early, as her usual self, and lies straight in bed, her eyes widened, staring at the ceiling without actually looking at it. It is a real mess in her mind as she keeps on playing her kiss with Jeff in it, over and over again, as if it is a broken record.

“Oh my God…” Annie keeps muttering in a distressed voice from time to time.

She can’t believe what happened. She can’t believe one minute, she was yelling at him and the next, she was kissing him like her life depended on it.

Annie grunts at the memory of Jeff’s lips against hers and grabs one of her many pillows to squint it against her face and scream discreetly in it.

When she puts the pillow down, Annie sighs heavily and starts thinking about the consequences of that kiss. What is it going to be like now in the loft? How are things going to be between her and Jeff? And most of all, how is she going to pretend like everything is normal in front of Abed and Britta when all she can think about is how turned on she was by Jeff’s hands all over her body?

Annie groans yet once again and, this time, she throws her blanket at the other end of her bed and promptly gets out of it. She is not the kind of person to self-pity and wallow in her own misery. She needs to get it together, and she needs to do it quickly. It was just a stupid kiss, nothing else happened, it is not a big deal. Annie is just going to pretend like everything is perfectly normal and she is hopeful Jeff will do the same thing. The stakes are important for the both of them, after all.

When Annie waltzes towards the kitchen, she notices Abed sitting at the kitchen table, drinking his hot cocoa and reading what looks like a magazine.

“Hey Abed.” Annie greets joyfully, as normally as possible.

“Good morning, Annie.” Abed responds with a quick smile.

“What are you reading?” She asks while sitting in front of him.

“Nonsense, apparently.” Abed says before slamming the magazine on the counter, which makes Annie flinch a little. “I’ve done an interview a few weeks ago with Denver’s Mile High Magazine and this, right here, is the review it’s been published in. More like the _rag_ , if you want my opinion on it.”

“What does it say?” Annie wonders, frowning. “Is it bad?”

“Not really. They even said they liked me and thought I was a really pragmatic and interesting person.” Abed answers.

“Well, that sounds… pretty optimistic, right?” Annie tries in a cheering voice.

“Yeah. Except they’re tearing down my latest movie only a few lines after that.” Abed bluntly says, his jaw clenched.

“Oh no.” Annie lets out. “I’m sorry Abed, it’s not nice at all.”

“Yeah. I’m realistic, I know it’s impossible to get everybody’s approval on everything, it’s how the human nature is. After all, the world has to be diversified or we would get bored really quickly and we wouldn’t even have inspiration to write scenarios anymore.”

“That’s very true.” Annie nods, putting on a comforting smile to ease Abed.

“Maybe I’m overreacting a little.” Abed eventually says, pouting. “They’re not really tearing down the movie, accurately speaking, they’re mostly saying it’s a good story but the genre was misclassified and, thus, misleading.”

“What does it mean?”

“Well, we advertised it as a comic-fantasy movie, and from what I’ve told that interviewer and their own opinion after watching the movie when it came out in the theaters, they said it was really more of a coming-of-age kind of movie.”

“Huh. You know, I… can understand why it’s upsetting you, actually. I mean, I suppose you and your team worked hard on this. It can’t be pleasant to read negative reviews, whatever they say.”

“Thank you, Annie. Yeah, I guess that’s why it upset me in the first place.”

“That’s a normal reaction, honestly. And what does Damian think about that rag?” Annie asks teasingly.

“I don’t know, we don’t text, I’ll probably just ask him tomorrow if he’s read that –“

Abed interrupts himself when he notices Annie smirking and he then raises his hand in the air, looking reflective, before putting it back down and letting it rest on his lap.

“That was a joke, right?” Abed clarifies.

“It was, yeah.” Annie chuckles. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to –“

“No no, don’t apologize.” Abed interrupts her. “Your joke was funny. And I can see you’re trying to cheer me up so I could never resent you from doing that. You’re a really nice person, Annie.”

Annie’s lips turn into a huge smile at Abed’s nice remark, which makes him grin as well, more lightly. Annie then exhales and grabs the magazine to look for the article Abed is talking about. She skims through it and ends up her reading wincing.

“Yikes.” Annie says while putting the magazine down. “I can see why you’re upset.”

“So you think my annoyance is legitimate?” Abed asks sincerely.

“Of course it is, Abed, this movie is like your little baby!” Annie points out. “You have every right to be upset when people who don’t even understand its message criticize it.”

“Yeah…” Abed sighs. “I guess my next movie will have to be even more perfect.”

Annie smiles to approve Abed’s thinking and then stands up to prepare some breakfast. She fills the kettle with water and waits for it to boil, absentmindedly staring at it. As the sound of the water boiling and the whistle of the kettle increases, she has flashbacks of the moment from the night before, when the kettle was making the exact same noise as she was arguing with Jeff. Her stomach twists at the memory of their fight and when the kettle stops, she remembers with annoyingly perfect details how Jeff held her against him while passionately kissing her, and her face suddenly burns because of her reddened cheeks. Annie clears her throat and pours the hot water into a mug, chasing the thought away.

“So, what did you think of the dinner at Shirley and Matthew’s yesterday?” Annie then asks Abed as she is sitting back down in front of him, trying to clear her head.

“It was fine, I suppose.” Abed simply answers, finishing up his hot cocoa. “The food was tasteful, we had some funny banters. Troy and I got to try this classic movie scene in which we both smoke a cigar while looking suspiciously in the distance. And our costumes were awesome.”

“They really were.” Annie chuckles in response. “Speaking of, did Troy… sleep here last night?”

“Why do you ask?” Abed bluntly asks her.

“Well… Hmm, I don’t know, I guess I’m just… curious.” Annie stammers, slightly taken aback.

“You want to know if he and Britta are serious?”

“Hmm… Well… Not really that, but… I just want Britta to be happy, you know. She deserves it after what happened with Paige. And, well, if she’s happy with Troy, that’s amazing.”

“Hmm. I guess they _are_ happy together.” Abed shrugs. “Their relationship started off as the classic ‘friends with benefits’ trope that eventually develops because feelings ultimately get involved. But in these kind of scenarios, there’s always one person in the pairing who’s scared about getting hurt, so they always take a step back to protect their own feelings. In that case, that person’s obviously Britta.”

“Well, Troy looks really sweet with her, I hope she’ll be able to overcome her fear, they would be so cute together!”

“Who would be cute together?”

Annie stiffens at the sound of Jeff’s voice coming from the living-room. She purses her lips and squints at him walking towards the kitchen, wearing nothing other than sport shorts. She instantly looks away and focuses on Abed’s face to avoid glancing at Jeff’s bare chest.

“Britta and Troy.” Abed answers Jeff’s question.

“Oh, so this ship is sailing then, huh?” Jeff asks in return.

Annie hears Jeff cutting some fruits on the upper counter behind her, probably to make his usual morning smoothie. Her eyes then divert towards the fridge behind Abed, who is now looking suspiciously at her.

“It’s not sailing yet but we were talking about it with Annie and we think it may be sailing at some point.” Abed responds, observing Annie with an eyebrow raised.

“And do we want it to sail?” Jeff asks. “I mean, I want what’s best for them, don’t get me wrong, but Troy’s here like, what, ninety percent of the time? He’s almost like our roommate at this point, so they’re kind of breaking the golden rule by even sleeping together. And yeah, I figured out they’re sleeping together, even though you two were apparently aware of it and didn’t thought it was interesting enough to share.”

“To be fair, I had suspicions but never said anything to avoid making them uncomfortable. I suppose Annie did the same thing.” Abed points out.

Keen on avoiding speaking until now, Annie still notices Abed’s persistent gaze on her, meaning he is waiting for her to support his argument. She quietly sighs and lifts her eyes up for a second before opening her mouth.

“Yeah, pretty much.” Annie simply says.

“Oh, she talks.”

Annie’s jaw tightens at Jeff’s biting remark but she decides to ignore it. He probably noticed Annie is ignoring him and after what happened the night before, his ego must be hurt. As if Jeff is not used to women not swooning over him. Annie rolls her eyes at that thought – he is really impossible.

“If you two need to argue and ease the tension that’s obviously passing through you, I can leave, I’m done having breakfast.” Abed suddenly throws casually.

Annie widens her eyes and feels her chest warming up at Abed’s remark. She can no longer resist the urge to look at Jeff and thus turns her head to observe his reaction. He looks flabbergasted, his eyes widened as well and his mouth slightly open.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Abed adds before getting up.

“Wait Abed, don’t –“

Annie does not get to finish her sentence, since Abed is already walking towards his bedroom. She then finds herself alone with Jeff in the kitchen, feeling awfully ill-at-ease at the realization that the last time she was alone with him, they made out so passionately she thought she was going to pass out.

For a moment, there is a deafening silence. Neither Annie nor Jeff seem eager to be the first one to speak to the other. Annie quietly finishes drinking her tea as Jeff turns the mixer on to prepare his smoothie. When her mug is empty, she gathers her courage and stands up in order to put it into the dishwasher and face Jeff when she turns around.

“I, uh…” Annie begins saying before shutting herself up.

Jeff raises his eyes, lowered to the floor until now, to look expectantly at her. She feels breathless under his gaze, under the beauty of the ocean in his eyes. If only she could be in control of her emotions and not feel all these things around him…

“Yes?” Jeff eventually encourages her.

Annie notices he looks on edge too. She can only imagine how shaken he must be from the kiss, too. He is the one who initiated it, after all.

“I’m…” Annie speaks in a tremulous voice. “I’m done having breakfast too, I’m going to go back to my room.”

Annie wants to bite her lower lip and close her eyes out of frustration. Yet, she does no such thing and simply remains deadpan, trying to look unaffected in front of Jeff. She acts like a coward, running away from the inevitable like she is doing right now. It is not like her to be like this. But again, has she ever acted like her usual self since she has met Jeff?

“Okay.” Jeff simply says after a few seconds of silence, impassive too.

“Okay.” Annie repeats while nodding.

They stare at each other for a few seconds until Annie breaks the eye-contact and her legs start moving again. When she passes next to Jeff, their hands brush each other for a really short amount of time but it is enough to send shivers down her spine. She stops walking for a moment but quickly composes herself and heads towards her bedroom at once.

“Are we really not going to talk about it?”

Annie freezes in the middle of the living-room after hearing Jeff’s question and slowly turns around to look at him. He has not moved an inch and is still standing in the same spot, his glass of smoothie now in his right hand. He looks distressed and no matter how embarrassed or bitter Annie feels, she can definitely not leave him hanging like this. Therefore, she sighs and pushes her hair back nervously to give herself the time to think of a response.

“Is this how things are going to be now?” Jeff asks after a few seconds. “You’re going to ignore me whenever we’re in the same room? Sorry to break it to you but it might be difficult considering we’re living under the same roof.”

“Look, Jeff, don’t take it personally, I just… didn’t know what to say.” Annie answers, sighing a little at his remark. “I’m confused, that’s all.”

“Well, you’re not the only one.” Jeff points out, slowly walking towards her. “I barely slept last night.”

“You did?” Annie lets out, surprised.

“Yeah… Unlike what you seem to think about me, I’m not some heartless womanizer.” Jeff says.

“I’m sorry for the things I’ve said yesterday, Jeff.” Annie confesses, stepping slowly closer to him as well. “You’re right, Shirley did get into my head a little bit and… I don’t know, I’ve had a bit too much wine and it just exacerbated how I felt even more.”

“And how did you feel?”

Annie remains speechless at Jeff’s question. They are now standing only a few feet from each other and after finding out what it is like to be physically close to him, Annie almost can’t bear this distance between them anymore. But she knows it is for the best. After all, their roommates almost caught them the night before. They can’t risk that happening again.

“I… I, uh, I don’t know, Jeff.” Annie stammers, uncertain. “Like I said, I’m confused.”

Jeff simply scoffs in response and scrapes the back of his neck under Annie’s inquisitive gaze. What does he want her to say, exactly? She is more than lost.

“Look, let’s just… forget about our fight, forget about what happened and move on.” Annie eventually suggests.

Jeff then crosses his arms against his chest and lays his eyes on her. Annie tries her hardest not too linger on his bare skin but blushes at the simple thought of looking at it.

“Are you sure you don’t want us to talk about it before moving on?” Jeff asks her with an eyebrow raised.

“What is there to even talk about, Jeff?” Annie exclaims, suddenly getting impatient. “It’s not like there’s going to be a follow-up on… _this_.”

Annie turns around to look at the hallway leading to the bedrooms and makes sure neither Abed nor Britta are around to hear her conversation with Jeff. When she turns back around to look at Jeff again, she motions to describe what she actually means, first pointing at her lips, then at Jeff’s with a meaningful look.

“Yeah, no, you’re right.” Jeff eventually shrugs, letting his arms fall back. “It was just a mistake.”

“Yeah, just a stupid mistake.” Annie insists, tilting her head up to look confident.

“Right.” Jeff nods. “Never going to happen again.”

Annie nods to mimic Jeff and afterwards, an awkward silence settles between them as they are both looking at each other, one probably waiting for the other to say something else. It is only when Annie hears a door gently slammed from the other end of the hallway that the spell is broken and she is finally able to look away from Jeff. She takes advantage of this short moment of clearance for finally fleeing to her bedroom, meeting Britta halfway.

“Hey Annie, what’s up?” Britta waves at her.

“Hey Britta.” Annie quickly greets before going into her bedroom and closing the door behind her.

Britta frowns at Annie’s unusual reaction and then walks towards Jeff, who looks befuddled, standing in the middle of the living-room.

“What did you say to her?” Britta immediately asks protectively.

“Shut up Britta.” Jeff grumbles before going back to his bedroom as well.

***

Halfway through the week, Annie is still unable to get Jeff out of her head and it is starting to drive her crazy. Having trouble falling asleep at night because she can’t stop thinking about him? She can deal with. However, it is starting to affect her in her workplace now, since some of her coworkers have already caught her daydreaming at her desk. Lucky for her, they always warn her before her boss walks into the room. Annie is having more and more trouble focusing and she can’t allow herself to get distracted at work. She is no longer in high school, dreaming about a boy during history class.

 _Damn it, Annie Edison, you need to get it together_ , she thinks to herself.

After quietly exhaling, Annie realizes she needs a quick mental break and thus decides to get up and go towards the coffee machine in the breakroom. She leans against the counter and waits for her coffee to be prepared while distractively chewing on a cookie. Her coworker Carl always brings some pastries when his wife Caroline cooks too many of them. In that moment, Annie is more than grateful for the gesture because this cookie tastes like heaven in her mouth and it mellows her heart.

“Hey Edison!”

Annie turns her head on her left to smile at Steven, standing in front of the coffee machine and putting coins into it as he wonders what kind of beverage he is going to take.

“Carl’s wife?” Steven then asks while pointing at the cookie Annie is eating.

“I assumed.” Annie nods with her mouth full. “It’s so good.”

“Oh yeah, Caroline’s an angel.” Steven approves. “What do you think, cappuccino or mocha?”

“Mocha. Definitely. It tastes like chocolate, it’s better.” Annie immediately responds.

“Wow okay, without even blinking.” Steven jokes as he selects the program. “Oh, here you go, I think yours is ready.”

“Thanks.” Annie tells him while she takes the cup Steven hands to her. “So how are you today? Not too sad?”

“You’re sweet Edison but really, don’t feel like you have to ask me that every day, I’m fine.” Steven ensures with a smile.

“Come on, you don’t have to play the tough guy around me, I know how painful a heartbreak can be.” Annie insists.

“It sure isn’t the best time of my life, but I’m okay.” Steven exhales. “I’ve had breakups waaaaay worse than that, to be honest.” He adds with a grimace.

“Oh really? You’ll definitely have to tell me about those.” Annie chuckles.

“Sure, we can go to dinner together and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.” Steven bluntly says in a laugh.

Annie stops laughing and stares at Steven, dumbfounded. He swiftly does the same and looks instantly ashamed.

“Oh shoot. I’m sorry, it just… The words just escaped from my mouth, I don’t know what happened.” Steven stammers, slightly blushing.

“No no, it’s fine, I just… You took me by surprise.” Annie tells him, smiling awkwardly.

“I know, I’m sorry, don’t think I was trying to ask you out on a date in the least smooth way possible, I’m not like that.” Steven asserts, laughing nervously.

“I didn’t think you were doing that, don’t worry.” Annie says, even though she is uncertain it is true.

“Okay, great, hmm… Sorry again for… killing the mood.”

“You’re good, it’s okay.”

After all these embarrassing ramblings, Annie decides to take her coffee to her desk and escape this uncomfortable situation Steven has put them both into. As she starts walking away, Steven hails her, which makes Annie stop and turn around.

“What would you have said if… if I was asking you out on a date for real, though?” Steven asks shyly.

Annie feels suddenly taken aback and blushes a little at Steven’s question. She has never really thought about him this way. Except maybe that one time she went out with Steven, Carl, Blake and Terrence for an after-work beer at a bar nearby a week after she started working at Denver P.D. As she was trying to get to know them, she had thought Steven was probably the cutest out of the four of them. Until he had talked about his girlfriend Flora and Annie had never thought about it again. Well, his _ex_ -girlfriend, now.

Annie realizes she has been staring at him without saying anything for probably a less than acceptable amount of time after someone has asked you that kind of question. Thus, Steven nervously chuckles and waves his hand in the air before saying:

“Nevermind, I’m sorry, it was stupid of me to ask you that.”

“No, it’s not, I just… I don’t know what to answer to your question, Steven.” Annie admits truthfully. “I mean, you only broke up with Flora two weeks ago. Are you sure you want to start dating again?”

“Yeah, no, you’re probably right, I need to get over Flora first.” Steven shrugs, pouting. “I don’t want you to think I’m some sort of horny toad who goes around asking women to go out with him the second his relationship is over.”

“I know you’re not, Steven.” Annie says, smiling.

“Okay, good.” Steven exhales, nervously smiling. “Your opinion matters to me because I think highly of you and also, I think you’re great and I really like you and –”

Steven interrupts himself in the middle of his sentence and looks mortified for a second. Annie has no idea what is happening in the moment but suddenly, all she can think about is something Abed told her when she was having lunch with him on the set’s tour.

_After, there’s bargaining. You’ll try to do something to make you forget about those feelings, something that’ll drive you away from him…_

Jeff’s face quickly pops into her mind but vanishes the second Annie lays eyes on Steven, who purses his lips so hard she is afraid his face is going to turn white.

“Okay, I’m going to stop talking now before even more embarrassing words come out of my mouth.” Steven then says.

Annie nervously chuckles and as Abed’s words and Jeff’s face start spinning in her head on repeat, she closes her eyes, softly shakes her head and before she can think it through, words come out of her mouth too before being able to control them.

“You know what? Why not?”

Steven looks confused for a second and quite frankly, Annie feels the same way because she has no idea why she has said that.

“Why not what?” Steven asks her to clarify.

Annie licks her lower lip and considers things for a second. Does she really want to go down that road? Does she really have to do this in order to finally take Jeff off her mind?

“Well… Why not try it?” Annie then exclaims. “Dinner. The date thing.”

“Wow, hmm, really?” Steven says, visibly surprised. “I, uh… Are you sure? You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, Edison, I don’t want to force you or anything.”

“No it’s okay, I want to. I think.”

“You think? That’s not very promising.” Steven teases her nicely.

“Sorry, that’s not what I meant, I… I’m just a little bit caught off guard, to be fair, I didn’t think I would be asked out on a date in front of the coffee machine.” Annie confesses with a wince.

“Yeah, I admit it’s not really glamorous.” Steven chuckles. “So, hmm… Okay then, what the hell? Let’s do it. Are you free on Friday evening?”

“Yep, sure.” Annie nods, lightly grinning.

“Okay, cool, hmm… It’s a date, then.”

“It’s a date.”

Steven’s lips turn into a genuine smile and Annie awkwardly waves goodbye at him before turning around and walking back to her desk. She sits back down and finishes sipping her coffee, then, the rest of the day goes by with not much trouble and when Annie realizes she has finally stopped tormenting herself over Jeff, she quietly sighs and puts on a smile.

***

That night, when Annie comes back to the apartment after work, the first thing she wants to do is share what happened with Britta. After all, she is the closest thing she has to a confident and they are really good friends now, so it is only natural Annie wants to talk about her incoming date with her. Which is why she has already texted Britta to tell her about it and how she will explain it with more details when they will see each other.

Annie knows that on Wednesdays, Britta usually comes home later than usual because she has a weekly office meeting with her fellow therapist colleagues. Therefore, Annie patiently waits for her in the kitchen while sipping on a glass of white wine and reading a chapter of a book she has started on Monday.

When she hears some noise coming from the living-room, she tilts her head up, thinking it might be Britta, however, the face her eyes lay on is not Britta’s.

“Oh. Hi.” Annie nervously says, unsure of herself.

“Hi.”

Annie smiles awkwardly as Jeff comes in her direction, hands tucked into his pockets. They have barely spoken since their delicate encounter from Sunday, and in all fairness, it is mostly because Annie is trying to avoid him as much as possible. To do so, she waits for him to go to the bathroom in the morning and the evening to wash his teeth first before going there too, she also tries to eat at separate times to avoid any encounter in the kitchen. Annie knew she would not be able to do that eternally, therefore, she soothes herself to have a normal discussion with Jeff, the way they used to do before their fight slash make-out session at Halloween.

“How was work today?” Annie casually asks him as she puts her book down.

“Hmm, it was fine.” Jeff simply answers, leaning against the counter in front of Annie. “I think this job might eventually rub off on me.”

“Oh, is that so?” Annie replies teasingly.

“Yeah, I know, maybe you were right and I might actually be good at teaching, in the end.” Jeff retorts in the same tone, smirking.

“Of course I was right.” Annie says proudly.

Jeff lightly chuckles and for a second, things feel normal again and Annie is delighted about that. Up until now, she has not realized how much she missed her daily chit-chat rituals with Jeff in the evening. It is crazy, how much one silly kiss can ruin…

“What about you?” Jeff then asks. “How was work?”

“It was fine.” Annie simply answers. “Nothing too exciting.”

Annie feels bad in this instant, because she is, after all, lying to Jeff by omitting the date on purpose. But things are slowly starting to be normal again, and Annie does not want to do anything that will potential ruin th –

“Oh my God, Annie, come on, I’m ready, tell me _everything_ about this date!”

Annie’s face drops when she hears Britta’s voice from the living-room, who has just come inside the apartment. Annie then looks at Jeff and she wants to scream when she sees his stern face. For a moment, she had gotten back the smile and the dimples Annie likes so much, and just like that, they are gone again, and she feels awful about it.

“Oops, sorry, am I interrupting something?” Britta asks when she gets to the kitchen and sees Jeff.

Annie does not know what to answer and can’t help but look at Jeff instead. As if she is quietly waiting for him to say something. Anything.

“No.” Jeff then tells Britta without looking away from Annie. “No, you’re not interrupting anything, don’t worry. I was just casually talking with Annie about her day at work, where nothing too exciting happened, apparently.”

Annie feels like her heart is going to drop to her stomach. Jeff sounds genuinely upset and it is the last thing she wanted to do. She had finally gotten _him_ back, everything she likes about him. And she has just lost it again.

“Nothing too exciting? You’re off the marks Winger, Annie’s coworker asked her out on a date!” Britta babbles, sounding excited.

“Yeah, I got that.” Jeff plainly responds.

As Britta sits down next to Annie and pours herself a glass of wine, Annie looks at Jeff with a downcast look on her face as he purses his lips and then, he smiles sadly at her before walking out of the room. Annie feels utterly distressed as she partially listens to Britta rambling. Abed’s words are spinning in her head again, but this time, with the missing part she could not remember earlier with Steven.

_After, there’s bargaining. You’ll try to do something to make you forget about those feelings, something that’ll drive you away from him…_

Annie then pictures Jeff’s saddened look in her head all over again while adding the end of the sentence.

_… but it won’t succeed, it never does._


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tada! New chapter!
> 
> Sorry for the little delay, I wasn't really feeling in a writing mood lately. I hope you'll like this chapter though, as usual, I very much appreciate the feedback :)
> 
> (And as always, a huge thanks to the Community Discord #fan-fic challenge for their endless support and help. You guys are the best!)

“My new movie _Anger of my Dreams_ will premiere in Los Angeles in two weeks and there’s going to be a ceremony afterwards, since it’s nominated for the Fantasy Awards League. Are you guys interested in coming with me to Los Angeles for the weekend?”

Annie knows for a fact that the single question Abed has just asked is going to be the triggering factor of many, many problems.

***

Obviously, everyone agreed cheerfully. How could any of them have said no to going to Los Angeles with Abed in order to support him for his movie premiere? Annie was even the first one to squeal excitingly and say how great it was. Even though it meant she would have to spend forty-eight hours non-stop with Jeff. And to this day, after trying to avoid him as much as possible since Halloween, Annie has no idea how she is going to manage.

Thankfully, she can clear her head in the meantime, since her main thoughts revolve around her incoming date with Steven. Against all odds, she is weirdly excited about it. She has started paying more attention to him at work, well, a _different_ type of attention at least, and she has realized how attractive he actually is. He is most definitely her type – tall, blond short hair, blue eyes, a smile to die for, stylish and forearms muscled to the point his veins are sometimes bulging out.

So far, Annie had failed to pay attention to that, since Steven used to constantly talk about his ex-girlfriend, Flora. She could not decently think of him _that_ way in such a context. But now that Flora is no longer in the picture and that Steven has more or less admitted to liking Annie, she lets her barriers down and thinks “why not”. Anything to help her get over her crush on Jeff is more than welcomed, and if that anything happens to be a handsome man with whom she gets along fine, then, she has no reason to complain.

On Friday morning, Annie’s alarm rings off at 6.35 A.M., as usual, and she instantly gets up, excited for her date with Steven the same night. When she goes to the kitchen, showered and dressed up for work, she meets Britta and Jeff, both having breakfast together.

“Morning guys!” Annie exclaims, trying to ignore the way her heart flutters when Jeff lays eyes on her.

“Well, looks like someone’s in a good mood.” Britta points out, smirking.

“I’m always in a good mood on Fridays.” Annie remarks, smiling lightly as well.

“Yeah but I guess even more so when it’s a Friday _and_ you have a date.” Britta retorts.

Annie chuckles for a few seconds, pouring herself the coffee she assumes Jeff has already prepared for his other roommates in a mug. She drinks it slowly, since she has time before having to go to work. She makes eye-contact with Jeff, and she frowns when she sees the way he is smiling at her. Something feels off – it looks like Jeff has something in mind.

“So Annie, excited for this little date of yours?” Jeff suddenly asks her.

Annie can’t stop frowning. Jeff’s tone is too cheerful to be honest. What is on his mind?

“Hmm… I guess I am.” Annie simply answers, avoiding Jeff’s gaze. “Steven’s a nice guy.”

“Good for you, good for you.” Jeff responds. “And, hmm, where is _Steven_ taking you again?”

Annie’s jaw tightens when she hears the way Jeff says Steven’s name. Like he is purposefully dismissive. Annie does not like that tone one bit.

“Actually, he said he wanted to take me to this really fancy restaurant downtown.” Annie retorts in a biting tone.

“Wow, sounds fancy already.” Jeff says. “What’s it called?”

“The Crystal Violin.” Annie responds instantly. “You probably don’t know it, it’s a very selective place.”

“Oh, I happen to know it, actually. An old friend of mine represents them.” Jeff says with a smirk.

Annie does not even want to respond anything and just purses her lips, slightly annoyed. Then, she intercepts Britta’s confused look. As a therapist, she is obviously perceptive to the real vibe going on in the room.

“Jeff, why do you sound deeply more sarcastic than usu –“

“Oh wow, okay, I didn’t see the time!” Annie exclaims grotesquely loud to interrupt Britta’s question. “Hmm, okay, I wish you both a very good day and see you tonight!”

Annie does not wait for either of them to say something back and she just grabs her half-emptied coffee mug to take it to her bedroom. Once she has locked the door, Annie leans against it and closes her eyes, groaning frustratingly. Talk about some suspicious behavior.

***

When Annie is done applying the pink lipstick on her lips, she smiles at her reflection in the mirror and sighs satisfyingly. She has decided to avoid dressing up too much for this date, since she wants to see how things are going to go with Steven. However, she still loves the casual dress she has picked up for the occasion. Blue peacock color, flowy, covering her arms elegantly, A-line – simple but efficient. Since it is a little chilly outside, she is also wearing simple black tights for her legs, and elegant black high heels for her feet. Her hair is let down, falling graciously above her shoulders in curly waves.

Annie checks the time on her phone and realizes Steven is going to be there only ten minutes from now. Therefore, she walks to her bedroom in order to grab a light coat and her purse, then, she walks to the living-room to say goodbye to Britta.

Obviously, because Annie is going out on a date, all the roommates (plus Troy) are hanging out there, waiting to catch a sight of her before she leaves. Including Jeff.

“You look so pretty, Annie!” Britta exclaims when she notices her.

“That guy’s going to be mind blown when he sees you.” Troy adds with a genuine smile.

“Like in the movies.” Abed then points out.

“Aww, you guys!” Annie squeals, her cheeks lightly blushed. “Thank you, honestly, I’m not that dressed up, it’s casual, but I appreciate the compliments.”

“Didn’t you say the place he’s taking you to was selective and fancy?”

Annie can’t help but give Jeff a stink eye after his remark. He is speaking with the same tone she has already heard the morning before and she still isn’t a fan of it.

“I think she’s dressed fancy enough, Jeff, you’re a little bit harsh on her.” Britta points out, frowning inquisitively.

“I was just messing with her, she knows it.” Jeff contradicts.

Annie has to control herself in order not to roll her eyes at Jeff’s behavior. She is not sure because she still does not know him as well as the others do, but he almost sounds… jealous.

Just when the thought pops into Annie’s head, she feels her phone buzzing in her hand. She takes a look at it and sees a text from Steven saying he is almost there to pick her up.

“Looks like your limo is here.” Britta points out when she sees Annie looking at her phone.

“Yeah, he’s going to be here in a bit.” Annie says, smiling nervously.

“Well, good luck, I hope you’ll have a terrific night.” Britta says before coming closer and hugging Annie.

“Thanks, I hope so too.” Annie whispers while they are hugging.

“Text me if there’s anything wrong, okay? Like, if he’s being weird or something, we’ve planned a rescue mission with Troy and Abed.” Britta tells her in confidence.

“Okay, I’ll reach out to you if it turns out he’s a psychopath.” Annie says in a light chuckle.

When Annie parts from Britta, she shares a smile with both Troy and Abed, then, her eyes lay on Jeff. There are a few seconds of eye-contact during which neither of them is doing anything, until Annie’s phone buzzes again and it brings her back to Earth. Therefore, she puts on a shy smile before waving her roommates goodbye and exiting the apartment to meet Steven downstairs.

When she gets into the passenger seat and greets Steven, Annie realizes she can’t get Jeff’s face off her mind and it makes her fear for the evening to come.

***

Annie is already having a good time, even though they have barely ordered their food and are just casually drinking a glass of wine while chit-chatting. She realizes she has never really spent that much time alone with Steven and that he is a really sweet, interesting and funny person. Annie surprises herself when she flushes at Steven’s adorable smiles or when her heart skips a bit as they “accidentally” brush their fingers while both trying to grab a breadstick. Maybe something nice can come out of this, after all.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this.” Steven suddenly says, chuckling nervously.

“Yeah, me neither.” Annie nods, imitating him.

“But I’ve got to say… I’m really glad we are.” Steven adds.

Annie’s lips softly turn into a smile and she lowers her eyes to hide the fact she is flattered. Maybe it is her chance to finally move on and forget about –

“Good evening, I made a reservation for two, under the name Winger.”

Annie’s heart almost stops beating in her chest when she hears that sentence. Her eyes widen at once and she immediately lifts her head up to see if she is mistaken. She really wishes she is mistaken and she hasn’t heard it right.

But unfortunately, when her eyes meet Jeff’s, she realizes she is far from being wrong.

“Jeff, what the –“ Annie begins saying, unnerved.

“Oh hi Annie!” Jeff answers casually, with a large grin. “I hope you don’t mind, since you talked to me about this place this morning, I really wanted to check it out and decided it would be the perfect place to bring my date to dinner.”

Annie feels like her heart is going to drop to her stomach when she understands what is going on. Afterwards, she turns her head and can see that, indeed, Jeff hasn’t come alone. He is in the company of a gorgeous woman, a brunette with straightened long dark hair and sparkling brown eyes. She is vaguely smiling at Annie, while Annie can do nothing but remain impassive.

“Michelle, this is Annie, one of my roommates.” Jeff introduces Annie to the gorgeous brunette.

“Oh right, one of the many.” Michelle laughs right away. “It is so very nice to meet you, Annie.”

“Hmm, yeah, uh, like – likewise.” Annie stammers, utterly disconcerted.

“Annie, this is Michelle, she’s a professor at Greendale.” Jeff adds. “Annie actually studied at Greendale for a few years, she recently graduated.”

“Oh my God, what a small world!” Michelle exclaims, softly chuckling. “Congratulations are in order, then.”

“Th – thank you, that’s… I appreciate it.” Annie simply says, taken aback by what is currently happening.

“Sorry for bothering you two lovebirds, we’re going to let you enjoy your dinner now.” Michelle then says while looking and wincing at Steven.

“It’s okay, we’ve barely just ordered.” Steven answers, visibly confused.

Annie locks eyes with Steven for a moment and realizes that she may have been a bit too obvious regarding her disconcerted reaction seeing Jeff here, therefore, she tries to make up for it.

“Hmm, Steven, this is my roommate, Jeff.” Annie manages to say, trying to quietly compose herself. “And… his date Michelle, apparently.”

“Nice to meet you.” Jeff tells Steven.

“Nice to meet you too.” Steven retorts, smiling lightly.

“Steven is my co-worker at Denver P.D.” Annie briefly introduces.

“So we’ve heard.” Jeff points out.

Annie is resisting the urge to stand up and put her fist into Jeff’s face because they are in a room full of people and she does not want to make a scene, even though she wants nothing more than punching him at the moment.

“Well, I hope you guys will enjoy your dinner, the food is very good here.” Steven politely says with a smile.

“Thank you so much, have a lovely dinner too.” Michelle answers softly.

Neither Jeff nor Annie add anything to that, therefore, Michelle and Jeff move to the table the waitress has assigned them. Annie’s eyes follow Jeff for a moment, with a deep resentment hidden in them.

“Your roommate seems nice.” Steven suddenly says.

“Yeah, let’s talk about something else, shall we?” Annie suggests between gritted teeth.

Steven looks startled for a moment but Annie quickly gathers her thoughts and puts on a smile to ease him. This is her date, Steven is an incredibly sweet guy and she does not want to ruin any of it because of her stupid roommate whom she can’t get off her mind and whom apparently intends to make sure she does not forget about him.

***

As the evening goes by, Annie’s ability to focus on Steven and Steven only slowly fades away. All she seems able to do is glance desperately at Jeff from across the room, see him apparently having a good time and feel a knot forming in her stomach, more and more intense.

After eating a delicious parmesan risotto with roasted shrimps, Annie realizes the uncomfortable feeling of having her stomach tied up is going to make her lose her appetite soon enough. This cannot go on any longer, she needs to get to the bottom of things and confront Jeff about why, of all the places in Denver, he has decided to bring his date to the same restaurant her own date has brought her.

“Is everything okay, Annie?” Steven then asks her, looking concerned.

“Yeah, everything’s great, don’t worry.” Annie ensures with a comforting smile, even though she does not believe a word she just said.

Suddenly, she sees Jeff standing up and heading towards the men’s bathroom. Without a second thought, Annie stands up at once and awkwardly grabs her purse before laying eyes on Steven, who has an eyebrow raised at her.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom real quick, freshen up and everything.” Annie lies.

“Sure.” Steven simply responds with a smile.

Annie smiles back and instantly toddles towards the bathroom. Once she has passed the first door, instead of heading to the ladies’ room, she pushes vigorously the door to the men’s bathroom and then faces Jeff, who looks puzzled to see her here.

“Annie, unless I got it wrong, this is the men’s bath –“

“What the hell are you doing back there, Jeff?” Annie interrupts him sharply.

“Well… I’m having a date with a very attractive woman, in case that wasn’t obvious.” Jeff says, shrugging casually.

“Don’t you do that with me!” Annie scolds, gently punching his shoulder. “No shrugging, no cluelessness, not right now!”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I know exactly what you’re doing and it’s really getting on my nerves! You’re ruining my date!”

“It does seem like you’re a little bit bored out there, your date doesn’t seem like a very fun guy.” Jeff points out, arching a brow.

“For the record, Steven is very funny and he has nothing to do with it.” Annie retorts, crossing her arms against her chest. “Jeff, why are you doing this? I get that the situation has become a bit… odd since we kissed but it doesn’t give you the right to overstep my boundaries and make me look like an idiot in front of my date.”

“I didn’t think you’d care. I mean, we’ve obviously both made a mistake when we kissed the last time and now we simply both found nice people we are interested in. Besides, I’ve spared you the embarrassment of having Britta, Abed and Troy staking out from outside to check if your date is going well. If anything, I did you a favor by coming here.”

“That is not the point!” Annie exclaims, getting impatient. “Wait… They were actually planning on doing that?”

“Abed seemed worried about you, for some reason.” Jeff reveals. “He said something about you going on this date only to prove a point that is, in fact, a lost cause.”

Annie sighs frustratingly and covers her face with her hands. She can’t believe what is happening right now. It all seems like a very bad joke, like she is about to be pranked on camera, yet, she knows it is all too real and she has to face it.

“Are you sure it’s Abed who said that?” Annie eventually asks, glaring at Jeff.

“One hundred percent.” Jeff nods. “You can always ask him yourself if you don’t believe me, you know Abed doesn’t lie.”

“I don’t want to ask Abed anything, Jeff, I just want to enjoy my dinner with my very sweet date without having to see you from the corner of my eye!”

“Why, am I affecting you?” Jeff asks playfully.

“Ugh, you’re impossible!” Annie protests, turning around to walk away. “How did you even get a last minute reservation here? This place gets quickly booked up!”

“Well, luckily, my friend made us move all the way to the top of the waiting list.” Jeff says with a smirk.

Annie groans, unnerved by Jeff’s behavior. It only seems to amuse him even more. Infuriated, Annie storms out of the bathroom and walks back to the table she shares with Steven. When she sits back down, she tries her hardest to repress the anger boiling inside of her.

“Sorry, there was a line.” Annie pretexts with a forced smile.

“No worries. It’s funny, you said you’d freshen up but you look exactly the same as before.” Steven points out. “Guess you’re just as pretty, whether you’re wearing make-up or not.”

Steven’s genuinely sweet remark softens Annie up instantly and she feels guilty for having focused only on Jeff up until that moment. As the thought pops into her head, she sees Jeff coming out of the bathroom and walking back to Michelle, and even though he has been acting all cocky and sarcastic during their talk in the bathroom, she intercepts the way he is looking at her with Steven, and that look alone means more than a thousand unspoken words.

Annie pieces it all together in her mind and knows exactly what to do to get back at Jeff for having brought his date to the same place as her date.

She needs to have the most amazing time possible with Steven.

***

By the end of dinner, Annie can tell the tables have turned, and now, it is Jeff’s turn to glance tirelessly at her while she is laughing heartily at Steven’s jokes and being tactile with him. Jeff does not even seem to be enjoying his date with Michelle anymore and it brings Annie a shameful satisfaction.

Eventually, they are done with dinner and Steven asks Annie if she wants him to drive her back home. She nods, realizing how full she is from all the good food she has eaten. Even though she insists, Steven pays the bill and afterwards, they both walk out of the restaurant and to Steven’s car. Annie can’t help but quickly turn around to look at Jeff. When she spots him, he is already looking at her leaving and the intensity of his stare makes her heart skip a beat.

Later, when Steven parks in front of Annie’s building, he stops the engine and they both stay silent for a few seconds, visibly ill-at-ease. Then, they both start talking at the same time.

“Honestly, it was –“

“That was a –“

They chuckle simultaneously before getting back to serious.

“Go ahead.” Steven politely says.

“No, please, you go ahead.” Annie insists, blushing.

“I was just going to say it was nice.” Steven then says. “I had a great time.”

“Yeah, it was nice.” Annie simply reiterates. “That’s… actually what I was going to say.”

“Oh okay, cool.” Steven then chuckles.

Shortly after, Steven and Annie share a meaningful look and they sigh in unison.

“But…” They both say at the same time before lightly smiling.

“It felt like going out with a friend, right?” Steven asks her.

“Yeah…” Annie admits, pouting a little bit.

“Don’t get me wrong, I had a lovely time with you.” Steven immediately ensures. “It’s just that… I don’t know, I really like you, you’re an incredible person but… I just couldn’t stop thinking about –“

“Flora.” Annie ends his sentence for him with an encouraging smile.

Steven exhales sharply, visibly relieved that Annie understood what he was trying to say without having to actually say it.

“Maybe you were right, maybe it _is_ too soon for me to get back in the dating pool.” Steven shrugs.

“At least, you’ve tried, and now you know.” Annie cheerfully says to comfort him. “And we really had a great time, it was nice to see each other outside of the workplace without everyone else.”

“Yeah, it was. We should do this more often.” Steven suggests. “As friends, of course.” He promptly asks.

“I think it’s a great idea.” Annie nods.

“I’m glad we both feel the same way, to be honest.” Steven confesses in a sigh. “I don’t want things to get weird at work between us.”

“Nothing weird on my side, don’t worry.” Annie says, putting a hand against her heart as a way of supporting what she has said.

“Same. So… What’s the deal with that roommate of yours?” Steven eventually asks, sinking in his seat to get more comfortable.

Annie is taken aback by Steven’s question for a few seconds because she didn’t expect him to say anything about that. Apparently, Annie hasn’t been very subtle when she was looking over Jeff’s table.

“What do you mean?” Annie asks in response, a bit embarrassed.

“Well… Don’t think I haven’t noticed the stolen glances.” Steven simply answers, smiling softly.

“Oh.” Annie lets out. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know what to say right now, I’m really embarrassed.”

“Don’t be. Looks like there’s a lot of things left unresolved here.”

“Let’s just say it’s… complicated.” Annie sighs. “I’m sorry, really, we were out on a date and I kept focusing on him.”

“Yeah, he did the exact same thing with you though, so I’m assuming his date hasn’t gone really well either.”

Annie purses her lips at that revelation and stays speechless for a few seconds. No wonder Steven is that perceptive, after all, he analyzes things on a daily basis for a living.

“Either way, thank you for being there for me, all the way through the break-up and everything.” Steven eventually adds. “It means a lot.”

“Of course, you can count on me.” Annie softly says.

“Well, same thing goes for you, Edison.” Steven tells her before gently nudging her elbow.

Annie laughs and afterwards, she briefly hugs Steven and thanks him again for dinner before stepping out of the car and walking into the building. She rolls her eyes when she sees the “BROKEN” sign on the elevator doors and quietly walks the three floors to the apartment.

When she is inside, even though it is not very late yet, the lights are already turned off in the living-room and everyone seems to be in their bedroom. Annie could have used a little comforting conversation with Britta wrapped up in a plaid on the couch. Slightly disappointed, she decides to make herself an herbal tea before going to bed either way.

Once it is ready, Annie takes her shoes off, sits on the couch and covers her legs with a plaid, slowly drinking her herbal tea while reflecting on the events of the evening. A few minutes later, she hears the front door unlocking and she does not even have to look up to know it is Jeff coming home from his date.

“Oh, you’re here.” Jeff remarks.

Annie turns her head to look at Jeff. Weirdly enough, even though she is mad and bitter at him for showing up with his date at the same restaurant, she also feels soothed and relieved to see him. After all, he just came home, without any date at his side.

“You thought I went home with Steven?” Annie asks him before bringing the mug to her lips and taking a sip.

“Hmm… Well, there’s a high chance I may have obsessed a little about it on the way back but I’m neither going to confirm nor deny that.”

Annie feels a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth at Jeff’s revelation. Afterwards, he sits down on the couch next to her, therefore, she slightly turns around in order to face him, resting her elbow on the top of the couch and curling her legs up under her.

“What happened to Michelle?” Annie then asks.

“I drove her back to her place.” Jeff sighs. “Believe it or not, but she was not particularly keen on spending the night with a man who spent half of their date looking at another woman.”

Annie can’t help it, her heart starts beating faster and louder in her chest at Jeff’s words. She tries to be as deadpan as possible in order to avoid showing Jeff how much effect he actually has on her.

“That’s too bad, she seemed nice.” Annie says a bit playfully. “And she was really pretty.”

“She really was, that’s a pity.” Jeff says jokingly as well. “What about Steven?”

“We… decided we were better off as friends.” Annie briefly explains. “Mutual decision.”

“Too bad, he seemed nice. And he was kind of good-looking.” Jeff retorts teasingly.

“Kind of?” Annie repeats, smiling lightly.

“He was fine, but you can do ten times better.” Jeff jokes.

Annie chuckled a little at Jeff’s joke under his soft gaze. Then, she sighed and locked eyes with him.

“We are really not going to get rid of each other that easy, huh?” Annie points out in a whisper.

“I guess not…” Jeff admits, smiling lightly.

When he seems to understand the conversation is done, Jeff slowly stands up and stays still in front of Annie for a few seconds. Annie notices he starts opening his mouth before closing it again, scraping the back of his neck and turning around to walk towards his bedroom.

“Jeff, wait.” Annie lets out.

Upon hearing her request, Jeff stops and walks right back in front of her. It is so swift that Annie wonders if he was not actually waiting for her to hold him back.

“What are we doing?” Annie sighs in a defeated way. “We can’t ruin each other’s dates like that forever, tonight was seriously messed up.”

“Yeah, you’re right… I admit I’ve been acting ridiculous lately.”

“Why’s that? I mean, we both agreed Halloween was a careless mistake and that it wouldn’t happen ag –“

“Annie, it wasn’t a mistake because I actually really like you.”

Annie feels like she has been deprived of the ability to speak at once, just like the Little Mermaid in the animated movie. She suddenly has butterflies in her stomach and wonders if she is actually dreaming.

“I guess one of us had to admit it at some point, right?” Jeff adds with a nervous chuckle. “Either way, we both know we can’t do anything about it because dating a roommate is off limits.”

“Jeff, you know I’m not Emma, right?”

Annie’s comment seems to unsettle Jeff for a little while before he clears his throat and gains back a sense of assertiveness.

“I know that, Annie.” Jeff eventually nods. “You’re… I can’t even compare you to her because you’re a way better person than she is.”

“What has she done to you that made you all agree it was forbidden to date someone living with you from now on?” Annie asks almost pleadingly.

“It’s… It’s very personal, Annie, I’m not sure I’m ready to open up about it just yet. I want to, because I understood it was hurting you and I don’t want you to hurt. I… I wish I could tell you, right here, right now, but I know I’m not able to do that. Just yet.”

Annie sighs frustratingly and lowers her eyes to avoid Jeff’s gaze. She thought she had her shot at finally knowing the truth about Emma right here, but it looks like she was mistaken once again.

“I hope you understand.” Jeff sighs. “I really… _really_ like you, Annie, but I don’t want to make the same mistakes I did with Emma, because I don’t want to ruin what you and I have. I don’t think I could handle it if things went wrong between us.”

Annie’s heart is glowing in her rib cage, but at the same time, she feels an overwhelming wave of sadness immersing her. Jeff’s words move her beyond any rational logic but she also hates him for saying them to her. Because she feels exactly the same way about him and it is becoming way too important for her to ignore it anymore.

“Well… Good night, Annie.” Jeff eventually whispers softly.

“Good night, Jeff.” She says in the same tone.

Jeff smiles sadly at her before finally walking to his bedroom. When he is no longer in sight, Annie exhales slowly and closes her eyes to regain control of herself and not letting herself drown in her emotions.

_“You’ll be sad because you’ll want to have something with Jeff but you’ll feel like you can’t.”_

At this moment more than ever, Annie wishes Abed’s words never proved to be true, even though they most certainly did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I promise, the truth about Emma will soon be revealed!!)


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone <3
> 
> Sorry for disappearing for so long but life hasn't been easy lately. I've been going through a huuuuuuge writer's block this past month and it hasn't been easy to overcome.
> 
> But not to worry, I truly want to complete this fic, so even if it takes longer than planned, I will get to the end of this WIP! Especially because there are not many chapters left.
> 
> Anyways, here is chapter 13! Hope you'll enjoy it. Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated, as always :) 
> 
> Thanks to everyone for being so supportive and kind, I sincerely appreciate it <3 Enjoy your reading!

**_Chapter_ ** **_13._ **

When Annie looks out the window of the plane and sees the clouds beneath a perfect blue sky, she gently sighs, enjoying the beautiful scenery in front of her eyes. 

She can’t believe they are already on their way to Los Angeles for Abed’s movie premiere. Time really flies. Even when everything is messy and complicated. 

Annie turns around to look at Britta and Jeff, both sitting on the same row as her. She looks up a little to look at Troy and Abed too, sitting on the opposite row. Afterwards, she looks out the window again and takes a few seconds to reflect. 

Since Jeff confessed that he actually likes her and since they both acknowledged nothing could happen between them either way, Annie and Jeff have been maintaining distanced and casual interactions between one another, something the others have certainly not failed to notice, even though they have not said a thing about it. 

It is probably for the best. Although distancing from Jeff hurts Annie more than she cares to admit. 

When she sits back straight, Annie looks again at Abed and Troy, both watching a movie on Troy’s small television screen. They look invested, not even sharing a word, as they usually do. Annie smiles at that vision and then quietly observes Britta, who has fallen asleep with her glasses twisted on her nose, the book she was reading spread out on her lap and her head resting on Jeff’s shoulder. As for Jeff, he is attentively grading some papers from his students, his sleeves rolled up on his arms, distractingly chewing on the end of his red pen. 

Annie admires him a little bit longer than the others until he raises his electrifying blue eyes to lay them on her, as if he could feel her gaze on him. She instantly looks away, blushing a little, and pretends to look passionately at something she has spotted outside. 

Annie Edison will have to keep composure of herself throughout the next forty-eight hours, since she is going to spend most of that time alongside Jeff after pretty much avoiding him for the last week. She will have to be wise, mature and smart about all of this. 

Thankfully, the others will be here as well. After all, it is also the occasion for their little group to have fun in the City of Angels on this special weekend. Everything will be fine, definitely. What could possibly go wrong, after all? They are all adults. They will manage to behave. 

*** 

When the plane lands, Abed calls an Uber in order to take them to their hotel, which is close to the movie premiere’s venue. As soon as they get there, everyone checks into their room – Annie and Britta share one, Troy and Abed share another one, as for Jeff, he insisted on getting a bedroom for himself. Therefore, they are all quickly settled into their rooms, unpacking and resting after having to wake up early for their flight in the morning. 

“I’m so excited to sightsee a little, I’ve never been to L.A. before.” Britta babbles while unpacking her suitcase and putting her clothes in the wardrobe. 

“Yeah, me too.” Annie says with a weak smile, sitting at the bed end, her legs swinging in thin air. 

“I’d love it if we could have time to go surfing or something but I’m guessing it’s off the table since Abed’s already planned a very thorough schedule.” Britta adds, pouting a little as she puts a jacket on a hanger. 

“I think the weather forecast mentioned it would rain this weekend, either way.” Annie points out distractingly. 

“What??” Britta exclaims. “Oh come on, it must rain like, what, three days a year in California and it happens to be the only time we’re here? That sucks.” She complains, looking genuinely disappointed. 

“Actually, in L.A., it rains a little over thirty days a y -” 

Annie interrupts herself at once when she notices Britta’s stink eye. 

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to be a bummer.” Annie winces. 

“You’re not.” Britta sighs. “I was just kind of hoping... Nevermind, it’s stupid.” 

“No please, tell me.” Annie ensures, curious. 

Annie remains silent as Britta closes the wardrobe’s door and swiftly comes to sit next to her at the bed end, her arms against her body and her hands pressed on the mattress, supporting her full body’s weight. Annie wonders what Britta might have in mind in this instant, as she actually looks defeated. 

“I was just... Troy mentioned a few days ago how much he would love surfing in L.A. and, hmm... I don’t know, it’s kind of silly but I kind of thought it’d be nice if I could take him there so that we could be surfing together, you know.” Britta explains clumsily. 

“Aww, Britta, it’s not silly at all!” Annie asserts, softened. “It’s even very sweet.” 

“Yeah... I don’t know about that, he’s not my boyfriend so what did I have in mind, am I right?” Britta chuckles nervously. 

“You two are very close and you care about him, I don’t think it’s weird you want to do things with him that you know will make him happy.” Annie contradicts, absolutely sure of herself. “Screw the rain, you’ll find something else, I’m sure.” 

“Yeah, I hope you’re right. Ungluing Trobed can be rather tricky, as you may have already noticed.” Britta points out with a laugh. 

“I have a feeling Abed will be pretty distracted this weekend with, I don’t know, his movie premiere, maybe?” Annie says ironically, nudging Britta’s shoulder as she speaks. 

The two roommates start laughing in unison before settling into a comforting silence, both staring distractingly in the distance. 

“We should meet with the others soon, it’s almost two already and we only have a couple of hours for sightseeing before having to come back here and get ready for the premiere.” Britta comments before getting up at once. 

Annie nods, even though she feels a lump forming in her throat at the thought of spending the rest of the day along with the entire evening with Jeff. She literally has to swallow her feelings away, no matter how difficult and painful it is. 

*** 

The afternoon is very busy and productive, as the group is trying to visit as many places as possible before the rain announced for 5 P.M. forces them to flee back to their hotel. They rented a car in order to be able to move around the big city as they please. Their very first destination has obviously been the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame, where Abed has been more ecstatic than ever, even though he had the opportunity to visit it already in the past. Afterwards, they headed straight towards the seaside and were able to walk around Venice Beach, then drove along to see Santa Monica Pier and Sunset Boulevard before circling back to Paramount Pictures Studios. 

Annie has been able to take many pictures, both with her phone and also with her recently acquired Polaroid camera. On their way to their final destination of the day, sitting in the backseat between Britta and Troy, Annie silently looks at the Polaroid pictures she has been able to get, smiling all the way through. She particularly loves a few of them – one of Abed laying on the ground next to Bruce Willis’s star, smiling from ear to ear, then another one of Troy and Britta both biting on the same cotton candy in front of the palm trees of Venice Beach, but also a picture of Jeff driving on Sunset Boulevard, with sunglasses and a satisfied grin on his face. 

Annie’s favorite Polaroid picture, however, is definitely one that features the five of them, a picture that she asked an elderly lady walking on the beach with her husband and passing by at that moment to take of them. Annie admires this one a little bit longer than the others – the five of them are striking a pose on the beach, the sea visible behind them. They are all genuinely smiling and holding each other. Annie’s heart warms up when she notices the way Troy has put his hand on Britta’s lower back in order to hold her close to him. 

As for Annie, she is standing between Jeff and Abed, arm-in-arm with Abed while she just shyly has a hand resting on Jeff’s shoulder. She then notices the way her head subconsciously tilts towards Jeff, and the way his head also tilts towards her. She swallows hardly when she realizes it, when she recalls how it felt to stand so close to him, how it was to feel his hand softly and slowly brushing her back... 

“Annie?” 

“Hmm?” Annie lets out, suddenly back-to-earth. 

“We’re here.” 

Annie nods at Troy’s comment and thus exits the car after him once she realizes Jeff has parked and everyone else is already out of the car. She quickly puts the photos in her Polaroid’s dedicated pocket and then follows the others towards their destination. 

*** 

The weather forecast has been accurate enough, as usual. It starts raining at 5.06 P.M. precisely. Annie knows it because she is checking the hour on the car’s screen when it starts pouring outside. This time, she is sitting in the passenger seat next to the driver, Jeff, while the others are sitting in the backseat. 

Annie can hear Britta, Abed and Troy babbling like babies over the sound of the music coming from the radio station Jeff has turned on before he started driving. She can’t really make out what they are saying exactly but it sounds like they are discussing the incoming evening and the events that will take place. 

Annie listens to them distractingly before their voices slowly fade away from her ears and she is able to focus only on the guitar chords coming from the car’s speakers. She recognizes Ed Sheeran’s song, _Photograph_ , and she instantly starts humming it, discreetly enough. 

She lays her elbow against the car’s window, resting her head in her hand while watching the raindrops crashing endlessly against the windshield in front of her, lulled by Ed Sheeran’s voice. Eventually, she turns her head to look at Jeff, carefully driving in the rain. His left hand is casually holding the steering wheel while his right hand rests on the gear shift, probably subconsciously. He looks extremely focused on the road, the veins on his forearms sticking out a little. Annie’s heart starts beating a little faster than usual at the sight of Jeff and once again, when he feels her gaze gliding on him, Jeff briefly turns his head to look at her. Their eyes meet for a few seconds until Annie finally turns away to look at the raindrops again. She sees from the corner of her eye Jeff looks back on the road instantly as well. 

*** 

When they are back at the hotel, everyone walks back to their room in order to get ready for the movie premiere. Annie lets Britta get into the shower first and once the both of them are showered, they share the bathroom to get ready faster. 

“Can I borrow you a lipstick?” Britta asks Annie while putting some mascara on. 

“Uh, sure, I haven’t packed a lot of them but I guess that red would look nice on you.” Annie suggests while handing a lipstick to Britta. 

“Thanks babes.” Britta automatically replies. 

Annie smiles afterwards, always feeling content whenever Britta gives her a sweet friendly nickname. The two of them are really growing closer and closer with time, to Annie’s delight. 

“So, hmm, I’ve decided to, hmm... ask Troy out.” Britta eventually says hesitantly. “Sort of.” 

“For real??” Annie exclaims, suddenly excited. “Oh my god Britta, that’s amazing!! What did he say?” 

“Well, since there’s not much to do because of that rain, we said we would just hang out by the hotel’s pool whenever Abed’s premiere is done tonight. Troy said he would take care of everything, I don’t really know what he meant by that but... Yeah, so, we have a sort of official date tonight.” Britta says, smiling nervously. 

“I’m so happy for you Britta, for the both of you, actually.” Annie shares before quickly hugging Britta. “You two care so much for each other, it shows. I’m sure you’ll quickly figure out what you want to do.” 

“I hope so, things are... still a little confused and difficult, especially since I saw Paige that last time. But... I don’t know, I feel good and safe when I’m with Troy.” Britta confesses while shrugging. 

Annie genuinely smiles as she gently rubs Britta’s arm, smiling shyly. Annie wants nothing more than two of the people she holds dear to her heart to be happy. They deserve it. After everything she has been through, Britta deserves pure happiness, she deserves someone who cares for her. And Annie knows for a fact Troy would be able to provide all of that for Britta. 

“Alright, Abed’s limo is going to arrive soon, we should wrap all of that up.” Britta then points out. 

“Right, right, let’s go!” Annie exclaims. 

Ten minutes later, Britta and Annie meet the guys in the hotel’s lobby, dressed up fancy for the event. Annie tries to ignore the fact she can see Jeff lingering on her for a few seconds, while also trying not to admire him for too long, even though she thinks he looks dashing in this blue suit that makes his eyes stand out even more. 

“You guys are all fancy and nice, I love it!” Britta compliments immediately. 

“Thanks Brit, you’re not so bad yourself.” Jeff teases her. 

“Love that red lipstick Britta, it really matches your red dress well.” Abed points out. 

At that, Britta winks at Annie, who chuckles a little. Britta has decided to wear a close-fitting bright red dress when Annie went for a simple black dress, close-fitting as well. Annie must admit the two of them look quite good next to one another with those colors. 

“The limo’s here, shall we go now?” Abed then asks. 

Everyone nods and instantly follows Abed towards said limo, already waiting for them outside the building. Slightly in awe at how imperial it feels, they all sit down at the back of the limo, enjoying the ride as they drink some champagne and chat vividly. When they get to the venue, they get out of the car and walk up the red carpet. Annie almost feels like a star like this, arm-in-arm with Britta while Jeff and Troy are walking next to them. Abed stops for a bit in order to talk to some journalists, therefore, he meets his friends in the hall. 

The venue is a big theatre, and Annie can’t help but admire the surroundings as everything, up to the chandeliers hung from the ceiling, is beautifully breathtaking. When she comes back to earth, she realizes the others started moving, therefore, she quickly follows them. Abed chats with a few people along the way, briefly introducing his friends to them. At some point, they finally end up in the auditorium, where the movie will be screened. They sit down in the row reserved for Abed and his four plus-ones. Despite trying to avoid it, Annie finds herself sitting down next to Jeff, who shares an embarrassed smile with her when he notices it as well. Annie clears her throat and tries to remember she needs to overcome whatever it is she is feeling towards Jeff in order to properly support Abed and enjoy this special weekend with her beloved roommates. 

For a couple of minutes, a few people deliver a speech until the room finally goes dark and the movie starts screening. Annie focuses as hard as she can on what is happening on screen, putting all of her will into ignoring how much she wants Jeff’s hands to touch her, how much she wants to feel his body close to hers, how much she wants to bury her head in his neck to the scent of his cologne... 

Annie shakes her head and composes herself, her eyes staring intently at the screen in front of her. She is as tensed as ever, and she is almost certain she can feel Jeff is tensed as well. 

After a moment of internal struggle, the screen goes dark and the room is bright again, the lights now turned on again. A wave of applause goes off as Abed stands up at once along with the rest of the crew’s members, walking towards the stage under the roaring applause of the audience. Britta immediately cheers Abed loudly, quickly followed by Troy, Jeff and Annie. The members of the filming crew bow on stage, hands in hands, before thanking everyone there to support them. Annie’s heart warms up when she sees how happy Abed looks. She knows how important it all is to him and she can definitely see in his big smile that he truly has accomplished one of his childhood’s dreams there. 

Afterwards, the audience exits the room and heads towards the reception room. There, tables garnished with fancy food, champagne and wine are waiting for them while a jazz band is performing on the stage. Annie wanders around the buffet, picking some hors d’oeuvres to eat, a glass of champagne in her hand. Eventually, she finds Abed, standing alone in front of one of the tables, looking attentively at a plate of shrimps. 

“Hey there, Director Nadir.” Annie greets him, gently nudging him. 

“Hey Annie.” Abed simply replies. “I’m having major _Mister Bean’s Holiday_ seafood dinner’s scene vibes right now.” 

“Because of the shr – Hmm, yeah, never mind.” Annie interrupts herself. “So that movie was amazing Abed, I loved it! I think everyone loved it.” 

“Of course, it’s a great movie.” Abed confirms. “We’ve all worked really hard on it.” 

“And it shows. Great job Abed, congratulations, sincerely.” Annie says with a big smile. 

“Thanks Annie, it means a lot.” Abed says with a thin smile. “Are you enjoying the party?” 

“Well, I’m definitely starting to vibe to that jazz music.” Annie says jokingly before discreetly wiggling around, which makes Abed soberly laugh. “Want to come dance with me?” 

“Sure, why not.” Abed shrugs. “Oh, hold on, let me get Tr –” 

“Come on, come on!” Annie interrupts him. 

Annie grabs Abed’s hand and takes him towards the dancefloor, without giving him the chance to finish his sentence. After all, she wants to be Britta’s wingwoman and let her have the alone time she wants with Troy. 

Abed does not pick up on the fact Annie kept him from going looking for Troy and the both of them start doing a slow dance together, chit-chatting and laughing together. As they slowly waltz around, Annie eventually spots Jeff at the back of the room, chatting with an elegant woman. Annie’s heart tightens when she sees this, therefore, she quickly looks away and tries to get that mental image off her mind. 

*** 

The evening goes by quickly and around 10 P.M., Annie sees Troy and Britta leaving the party together. Annie smiles, knowing they are currently heading back to the hotel in order to have their date. Annie decides to stick around a little longer for Abed but eventually, all the walking and sightseeing supplemented with the fact she had to wake up early the previous morning catch up to her and she feels exhausted all of a sudden. After yawning rather indiscreetly, Annie walks to Abed and gently taps his shoulder to get his attention. 

“I think I’m going to go back to the hotel Abed, I’m feeling tired.” Annie tells him. 

“Sure, let me get you an Uber.” Abed says while taking his phone out of his pocket. 

“It’s okay Abed, I was going to call one for me so I’ll take care of it.” 

Annie stiffens when she hears Jeff’s voice behind her. She turns around at once and sees him, his phone against his ear. 

“Cool, cool cool cool.” Abed simply says. “Thanks again for coming guys, it really means a lot.” 

“Of course Abed, are you kidding? We’re so proud of you!” Annie ensures before briefly hugging Abed. “Any time. See you tomorrow.” 

Annie and Jeff wave at Abed, who imitates them, before the two of them start walking outside the venue in order to wait for the Uber to pick them up. Annie feels way too nervous about spending some time “alone” with Jeff. They have not had a real talk since the one they had after her date with Steven. Who knows how it is going to turn out? 

As they are standing outside, Annie starts shivering a little, rubbing her arms with her hands. Even though she has a light cardigan on her shoulders, the chilly night wind added to her weariness don’t make a good mix. 

Then, all of a sudden, she feels a soft fabric sliding on her shoulders and she realizes she has a jacket on her. She turns her head to look at Jeff, who is vaguely smiling as he is looking in the distance. 

“Thanks, Jeff.” Annie simply tells him, not knowing what else to do. 

“Sure, next time, don’t be afraid to ask.” Jeff ensures softly. 

“I didn’t even think about asking, actually.” Annie admits. 

“Well, I didn’t want you to freeze to death, you know.” 

Annie scoffs lightly at Jeff’s teasing tone and looks away to stare in the distance too. She puts the jacket on properly and is quickly enough elated by the scent of Jeff’s cologne on it. She composes herself when the Uber pulls over in front of them and Jeff opens the door for Annie. When the both of them are in the car and the driver starts the engine, heading towards their hotel, Annie can’t help but throw quick glances at Jeff. She can see from the corner of her eye he does the same thing too. They must look so ridiculous, acting like insecure teenagers together. 

Once they are back at the hotel, Annie awkwardly follows Jeff inside the building and since their rooms are on the same floor, the both of them take the elevator together. When it takes them to the right floor, they both walk hesitantly towards their rooms. Annie is curiously enough not too eager to get to her room, and it seems like Jeff is not either. 

“Well... Good night, Annie.” Jeff eventually tells her. 

“G - good night, Jeff.” Annie replies, a little taken aback. 

Jeff scrapes the back of his neck and puts on a smile that looks more like a grimace before walking towards his room and locking the door behind him, without another look for Annie. Oddly disappointed, not knowing what she expected really, Annie walks back to her room, quite defeated. When she is inside and has locked the door behind her, the first thing she does is taking her high heels off and the feeling of the cold floor beneath her bruised feet feels like walking on a cloud. She unzips the top of her dress as she walks towards the bathroom to take her make-up off. Once it is done, she is about to undress when she sees her phone turning on and hears it buzzing. 

Curious, she takes a peek at it and sees Jeff just sent her a text. Definitely intrigued, she grabs her phone at once and quickly unlocks it in order to check the text. 

**\- Jeff Winger, 12.24 A.M.**

_You asleep?_

Annie purses her lips, uncertain of what she should do. Chewing on her nail, she tries to think fast. Maybe it would be best if she ignored that text and just pretended to be asleep already, indeed. 

But on the other hand, Annie wonders why Jeff asked her that. What could he have in mind? 

Eventually, her curiosity beating her sense of rationality, Annie quickly types back an answer. 

**\- Annie Edison, 12.26 A.M.**

_not yet. Why?_

The minutes that follow feel like eternity, waiting for Jeff to text back. Eventually, after ten minutes have passed, Annie concludes Jeff must have fallen asleep and she exhales sharply, feeling defeated again. She slips out of her dress and puts her pajamas on, ready to sleep like a log. Just as she is ready to dive under the blankets, she hears a shy knock on the door. 

Startled at first, Annie gathers her thoughts and goes towards it to check who it can be. Maybe Britta has forgotten her bedroom keys and is already back from her date. However, when Annie looks through the peep-hole and sees Jeff’s face, she feels her heart jumping in her chest. 

Before opening the door, Annie instinctively tries to puff her hair so it looks nicer, as if Jeff has never seen her with bed hair before. She rolls her eyes when she realizes how stupid she is acting before putting on a straight face and finally unlocking the door. When she faces Jeff, in his pajamas too, she melts a little. 

“Hey.” Jeff simply says. 

“Hey.” Annie repeats, feeling more and more dumb. 

“Sorry to bother you, but I...” Jeff starts saying, looking hesitant. 

“Do you... Do you want to come in?” Annie suggests, seeing him quiet. 

Jeff stands still only a few seconds before nodding. Annie steps aside to let him walk into the room. She closes the door and then walks towards Jeff, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. 

“Hmm, Britta’s not here?” Jeff then asks. 

“No, she’s, hmm, she’s with Troy.” Annie responds, pushing her hair back nervously. 

“Oh right, she mentioned it to me earlier.” Jeff recalls. 

“Is... is everything okay?” Annie wonders out loud. 

“Y - yeah, I was just...” 

Jeff sighs frustratingly, apparently tiptoeing around something that makes him nervous. Annie crosses her arms against her chest, not knowing what to expect. 

“We can sit on the bed, if you want.” Annie then suggests in a soft voice. “It will probably be better than standing like this.” 

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Jeff agrees. 

Therefore, the both of them sit next to each other on the bed, putting an unnatural distance between them. Annie still believes they are being ridiculous but nevertheless, she patiently waits for Jeff to say what is on his mind. 

“I’ve been thinking a lot lately, Annie.” Jeff eventually exhales. “Like, a hell lot. About everything, about our last conversation, about how things are between us now...” 

“Things are weird now, aren’t they?” Annie chimes in, her heart beating faster and faster. 

“Well... I was trying to think of a better way to say it but... Yeah, pretty much.” Jeff agrees with a brief chuckle. “I mean, we are obviously both avoiding each other as much as possible because we don’t even know what to do with ourselves when the other is around. And it’s so damn frustrating, you know? I wish we could go back to the way it was before, when we were getting to know each other and everything just felt so...” 

“Right.” Annie finishes his sentence. 

“Yeah.” Jeff whispers. ”Annie, I know how stupid it sounds because all in all, we haven’t known each other for that long but... It just feels so right. I love spending time with you and now, it just feels weird we don’t get to do it anymore.” 

“I agree, Jeff. I do. But the outcome of that remains the same. There are some... _feelings_ there that we have acknowledged but upon which we can’t act because we are roommates. Nothing has changed.” 

“I know. But there’s one thing that can change, though. One significant thing.” 

Annie stays silent afterwards, even though this silence is almost agonizing in this instant. She notices the way Jeff slowly gets closer to her each minute that passes and the more their bodies get close to one another, the more she feels attracted to him like a magnet. 

“So, the thing is, I’ve been thinking a lot and... I’ll tell you everything you want to know about Emma.” Jeff suddenly concedes in a sigh. “Ask me anything you want to know and I’ll answer, Annie. No more secrets."


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, new chapter already!!
> 
> So it seems like the inspiration is back, which is great.
> 
> This chapter is a little bit different than the other ones. First of all, it switches between different point of views, with a clear cut reserved for flashbacks. And also, it has a much more angsty and dramatic tone to it. After all, the truth about Emma is finally revealed...
> 
> I feel like I should probably give a heads up about that but there is a slight mention of emotional abuse there. So trigger warning on that regard.
> 
> Keep in mind all that angst is only going to lead to a fluffy and happy ending, the way I'm used to providing!!
> 
> Anyways, hope you'll enjoy your reading regardless. Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated, as always :)
> 
> Thank you all for the endless support and nice words <3

In her life, Britta Perry has been used to being deceived, to ending up disappointed. Therefore, she always tried to keep her expectations at the lowest level.

With Paige, she had let her guard down. She wanted to be vulnerable around her because she thought this was it. She thought she had found her special someone. The someone everyone is always talking about. 

And as it turns out, Britta had been, yet again, deceived and disappointed. Way worse than that, actually – she had gotten her heart broken. Stomped on the ground. Multiple times. And damn, does it hurt. 

Therefore, Britta’s walls have stood up again. Stronger than before. And she was not ready to break these walls down any time soon. 

Which is why she is very very afraid about how tempted she actually is to tear down her walls again whenever Troy Barnes is around her. 

Britta comes back to Earth when she hears the sound of the bottle of champagne being popped open. She raises her eyes to lay them on Troy, who is now pouring the beverage in two champagne flutes. 

Britta smiles softly while watching him preparing everything carefully. When she met him all these months ago, she surely would never have thought she would end up having a romantic picnic by a hotel’s indoor pool in Los Angeles with him, but it is true when people say life always finds its way of surprising you. 

For instance, she most definitely never would have thought she would become infatuated with him over time. 

Even though she truly does want to remain secure behind her protection walls. 

“I’m really glad we’re doing this, Brit.” Troy eventually says. “I know it’s not, like, the perfect romantic date we see in the movies but –” 

“It’s perfect, Troy.” Britta interrupts him gently to soothe him down. 

Troy then shares a genuine smile with her and nervously chuckles before slowly licking his lower lip. Britta silently admires him as he grabs a champagne flute and hands it to her. After she grabs it, Troy takes the other one and prepares to make a toast. 

“We have a lot of things to toast to, I don’t even know which one to pick.” Troy admits, frowning. 

“Why not toast to all of them, then?” Britta suggests. 

“Sounds cool.” Troy approves. “To Abed and his mastermind!” 

“To our weekend in Los Angeles.” Britta adds. 

“And... to our official date.” 

Britta melts a little bit more because of Troy’s incredible sweetness and as they clink their glasses together, she tries her hardest to remember she can’t let her guard down again. She can’t risk getting hurt again. She has to remain in control of her emotions. 

As the evening goes by, Britta has a wonderful time with Troy and does not want it to end. Once they are done having dinner, Troy puts the picnic basket away and instantly starts undressing under Britta’s confused gaze. 

“Troy, what are you doing?” She whispers. 

“What do you think?” Troy retorts teasingly while heading towards the pool. 

“I don’t think we’re even supposed to be here at this hour, let alone take a dip in the pool.” Britta points out. 

Britta tries her hardest to remain serious and clear-headed, but the vision of Troy’s bare chest is too distracting for her to focus on anything else. Britta clears her throat and slowly stands up, grabbing her high heels she previously slipped off her feet in her hand. 

“Well, I think that considering the price Abed’s paying for those rooms, we can at least have the right to freshen up whenever we want.” Troy says before jumping in the water. 

“Oh fuck, he actually did it.” Britta comments out loud, sighing. 

When Troy resurfaces and shakes his head as he is taking a big puff of air, Britta tries to repress the thought that she finds him devilishly attractive because she does not want to be one of those girls swooning over a man who has droplets of water running on his skin, perfectly fitting the lines of his abs... 

Britta firmly shakes her head to chase the thought away. No, this is cliché and completely anti-feminist, she does not want to have such thoughts. 

“Come on Brit, join me!” Troy yells while back crawling. 

“I don’t think it’s very smart to do that, Troy.” Britta says in an assertive tone. 

“Damn, what happened to the anarchist in you, girl?” Troy taunts her. 

“Playing the anarchist card, seriously? Not cool, you know very well what it makes me do.” Britta scolds, crossing her arms against her chest in a displeased manner. 

“That’s the point, baby.” 

Britta scoffs and rolls her eyes, both slightly annoyed and lowkey attracted to Troy’s confidence. 

“I’m not even wearing a bathing suit right now!” Britta whines, internally struggling. 

“I’m not either.” Troy retorts. “Come on, don’t tell me you care about ruining your underwear now.” 

“I don’t but –” 

Britta’s sentence is interrupted in the middle of it by the scream escaping her mouth as Troy has suddenly jumped out of the water to grab her arm and take her down with him in the pool. She gasps for air once she resurfaces and immediately jumps on Troy’s back to try putting his head under water as a payback. 

“Not cool, Troy!” Britta yells at him. 

Troy is tirelessly laughing as Britta tries her hardest to put all of her weight on his back so that he can end up under water. Instead, Troy somehow manages to escape from her grasp and he instantly turns around before putting his hand on Britta’s back and swiftly pushing her towards him. 

“I’m sorry, it was too tempting.” Troy then tells her after he stopped laughing for good. 

“Well, it’s not funny idiot, I’m going to have to go back to my room like this!” Britta complains, pointing her finger at her now soaked dress. 

“Oh no, that’s a shame, that means you’ll have to take it off now.” Troy pretends to whine, pouting exaggeratedly. 

Britta starts opening her mouth to say a comeback but she closes it instantly when she understands Troy’s innuendo. Even though she is still angered by Troy’s behavior, she can’t help but feel a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. 

Only a few seconds later, Troy gets her even closer to him and once their bodies are against one another, he kisses her tenderly at first, only to make it more passionate shortly after. 

As Troy lifts Britta up so she can wrap her legs around his waist, Britta can feel her walls tumbling down, letting herself surrender completely to Troy’s embrace. 

All of a sudden, Troy slowly reins back to look her in the eyes, and the intensity of his stare instantly takes Britta’s breath away. 

“You’re so beautiful, Brit.” Troy whispers softly. 

Britta smiles at that compliment, but as Troy leans in again to continue their kissing session, Britta gently puts her fingers on his mouth in order to stop him. Confused, Troy watches her releasing herself from his embrace and stepping away at once. 

“Did I... Did I do something wrong?” Troy asks, suddenly self-conscious. 

“No no, you did nothing wrong, it was... Tonight was amazing, Troy.” Britta immediately tells him. “That’s... just the problem.” 

“I don’t understand.” Troy admits. 

“I’m sorry, I... I thought I was ready for... _this_. But I don’t think I am.” Britta stammers, flustered. “I’m so sorry, Troy.” 

Without another word, Britta promptly jumps out of the pool, grabs her heels that were left abandoned on the cold floor and afterwards, she runs away under Troy’s incredulous and saddened look. 

*** 

The room is immersed into a deafening silence after Jeff told Annie she could ask him anything she wanted to know about the infamous Emma. Emma, the old roommate. Emma who used to date Jeff. 

Annie should be overwhelmed by all the questions she has regarding that girl, she should have her mind filled with them, to the point she would not even know which one to pick first. 

However, Annie is awfully silent instead. She is not able to form a thought coherent enough to be put into words that will get out of her mouth. She is so taken aback and flabbergasted in this instant that all she can do is look at her bare feet swinging into thin air below her, knowing very well Jeff is waiting for her to say something. 

“Okay, I realize now that maybe it wasn’t very considerate of me to throw that bomb on you like this, without any sort of warning.” Jeff eventually says, obviously nervous because of the silence. 

“No it’s okay Jeff, I just... I wasn’t expecting that, it’s kind of a mess in my head right now.” Annie confesses honestly. 

“It’s okay, I get it, take all the time you need.” Jeff says softly. ”Well, not _all_ the time literally speaking because it’s getting close to 1 A.M. and I think both you and I have a hard time recovering from that early alarm today.” 

Annie laughs lightly at Jeff’s joke before clearing her throat and regaining a sense of seriousness. She can’t believe after obsessing and being frustrated over Emma for not knowing the truth about her, she now does not know what to say when the opportunity of getting answers to her questions finally presents itself. Why can’t she get it together already? 

“I... guess first things first, you’re probably wondering what she did to make us resent her to the point she moved out of the loft?” Jeff suggests, noticing how Annie is at a loss for words. 

“Y - yeah, that, hmm, that’s... yeah.” Annie stammers, taken aback. “Jeff, are you sure you’re comfortable talking about it now? I don’t want you to feel pressured or anyt –” 

“I’m a hundred percent sure, Annie.” Jeff interrupts her while taking her hand in his. 

Annie feels a shiver running down her spine under Jeff’s touch. She can sense all of his sincerity and good intentions, and some excitement starts growing inside of her when she realizes she is finally going to know what happened in the loft before she arrived, when she realizes the last barriers standing between her and the roommates, between her and _Jeff_ , will finally be taken down. 

“Well, hmm... I’m going to try to make this long story short but I can’t promise I’ll succeed.” Jeff says before taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly. “So... Emma...” 

*** 

**Four months ago.**

When Jeff woke up by his girlfriend’s side that day, like every day for the past month, he felt an overwhelming bliss seizing him. He still could not believe how lucky he was to be with a woman like _her_. To wake up every morning next to her. That her smile was the first thing he could see every day. 

But alas, like everything that was going well in Jeff’s life, it would not last forever. 

The honeymoon phase of their relationship was incredible. Perhaps it was even the happiest Jeff had ever been with a woman. He felt so connected to her, like he was constantly walking on air. Everything was perfect. Maybe _too_ perfect, in fact. 

Gradually, things started to deteriorate. Jeff was slowly being forced to come down to Earth, even though he wished he could walk on air forever. But gravity was slowly taking him back down and while he was not ready to admit it out loud, he was vividly hating that feeling. 

At first, it was just the little things. So little he barely noticed it. It was just some innocent teasing, some harmless mockery that were increasing over time. Jeff failed to notice it, even though Britta, his roommate and friend who happened to be a therapist, pretty much an expert on people’s behavior, tried telling him it was not as innocent and harmless as he wanted it to be. But Jeff did not listen. Because he did not want the reality of gravity to crush his happiness at the time. He wanted to keep walking on air. 

But then, the mockery actually became worse. It became public. It became demeaning, hurtful, belittling. Jeff’s inner voice had awakened to warn him something was wrong. But again, Jeff pretended like he didn’t hear it. Things were going well, why ruin it over some silly paranoid thoughts? 

It was after yet another time of feeling denigrated and helpless that Britta told him about gaslighting. Jeff carefully listened, this time. But he still chose to dismiss it. It was not what the woman he was in love with was doing to him. It could not be. Things used to be so perfect and blissful. Jeff was confident it would eventually go back to the honeymoon phase. It had to. Because he felt so connected to her. He loved her, he _needed_ her to be happy. 

And one day, something happened and it was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. One day, during an argument, she used that one thing Jeff had confided in her when he felt like he could trust her all those weeks ago. She used that one thing in order to hurt him, to poke him right where she knew it would hurt. 

_“No wonder your father abandoned you Jeff, he probably spared himself a lot of trouble!”_

*** 

When Jeff got back home on yet another day of jobhunting, he saw Britta, Abed and Troy standing in the living-room, the three of them looking deadpan and concerned. They were looking at him, as if they were actually expecting him. 

“Damn, why so serious, guys?” Jeff had said jokingly, even though he was not feeling like his usual self. “Did someone die?” 

“Jeff, we need to talk.” Britta firmly said as Troy and Abed nodded. 

“O-kay...” Jeff slowly said while putting his bag on a chair and walking towards his roommates. 

“Please, sit down.” Abed solemnly told him. 

“Oh my god, is this an intervention?” Jeff immediately complained. “Are you guys seriously staging an intervention??” 

“We didn’t want to come to this but after what happened with Emma, we agreed we had to.” Troy said. 

“Ugh, this again??” Jeff sighed. “Guys, we already talked about this, it’s fine, she apologized and she didn’t mean what she said, it was in the heat of the argument –” 

“Stop making excuses for herself.” Britta promptly interrupted him. “Jeff, it’s not just about that one time. It’s about a lot of other times. Way too many, actually.” 

“Jeff, we all noticed how she was treating you.” Troy added. 

“I’m not an expert on romantic relationships but it’s definitely not normal.” Abed chimed in. 

“You guys don’t know what you’re talking about, you don’t know how our relationship works.” Jeff said angrily, clenching his fists. 

“And how does it work, Jeff?” Britta asked rhetorically. “She gets to step on you and make a fool out of you all the time and you’re just okay with that?” 

“It’s nothing like that, you don’t understand anything.” Jeff said between gritted teeth. 

“Well, what I _do_ understand is that when you actually love someone, you don’t act the way she does. You don’t treat your partner like she treats you.” Britta firmly asserted. “Jeff, maybe you haven’t noticed it but you’ve clearly changed since you two started dating. You’re not cocky or presumptuous anymore, you don’t even try being the center of attention anymore. Not that I’m missing the pompous and sarcastic comments but it definitely proves something is wrong. You’re not even yourself anymore because Jeff, she _controls_ you now. She is shaping you into something she wants you to be and we’re afraid, _I’m_ afraid that you’re going to lose yourself in the process and end up miserable.” 

“Well, this is very sweet of you to worry about me but I’m fine.” Jeff ensured, even though Britta’s speech disconcerted him. 

Britta sighed and shared a helpless look with Abed. Jeff’s stomach was twisting over and over again as a lump was forming in his throat. He hated that conversation, he hated that his friends staged an intervention because they thought his relationship was not healthy. They were wrong. They were so very wrong. He loved Emma, Emma loved him and they did not understand anything about any of this. 

“Look, we don’t want to pressure you or make you feel cornered, okay?” Britta eventually added in a softer tone. “We just care about you and we don’t want you to hurt. Just... Think about what we just said, okay?” 

Jeff strongly pursed his lips and nodded, not knowing what else to do. He immediately stood up, ready to flee this ridiculous conversation. As he did so, Britta looked at him, with a deeply sad smile on her face. She stood on her tiptoes in order to plant a soft kiss on his cheek and after gently rubbing his arm, Britta walked away, shortly followed by Abed and Troy, who both looked concerned and saddened as well. 

Jeff wanted to scream. To yell at them. To tell them how wrong they were. But instead, Jeff remained silent and walked back to his room, defeated. 

*** 

Jeff did mull over everything Britta told him. After all, it was not like he could just get it out of his mind. Britta’s words stuck to him, making their way under his skin and Jeff was unable to get rid of them completely. 

Thus, Jeff started taking a step back. He started reflecting on whether or not Britta, Troy and Abed were right. Maybe it was possible that he had been so blinded by his love and happiness that he had not seen through the charade. 

But just when he started having these thoughts, it was like the honeymoon phase had started all over again. Emma was being incredibly sweet, caring and kind, the way she had been at the beginning of their relationship. Everything was blissful again and Jeff then chased his insecure thoughts away, thinking his friends had definitely been foolish and had been trying to get into his head. Jeff thought they were probably just jealous of his happiness, of his perfect relationship with Emma. It was definitely it. They were just jealous and clueless because they did not have what Jeff was sharing with Emma. 

*** 

But again, good things never lasted when Jeff Winger was happy. 

One day, as he was getting ready to go on his weekly morning run, Jeff saw Britta slowly approaching him, her eyes puffy and her face blank. Jeff immediately knew something was off. 

“You look like hell, Britta.” Jeff pointed out while pouring some smoothie into a thermos. 

“Jeff, there’s something you need to know...” Britta said in a weak voice. 

Jeff locked eyes with Britta and he was suddenly overwhelmed by a terrible feeling. 

“It’s... Okay, it’s not going to be easy to say but I can’t keep this from you, not after everything she’s been putting you through already –” Britta started rambling. 

“Britta, what is it?” Jeff interrupted her firmly, his mouth already dry from the nervousness. 

“Jeff... Emma tried to kiss me last night.” 

These seven little words felt like a punch in the stomach for Jeff. Like his heart was being lacerated by a sharp knife. Like his whole world was falling apart. 

“I didn’t give her a chance to actually do it and I pushed her away immediately, I swear.” Britta assured in a tremulous voice. “Normally, I would’ve given her the benefit of the doubt because we were out at the bar with a couple of friends, we were a little bit tipsy and this kind of slippage can happen but Jeff, she’s been giving you enough shit already, that was too much and way over the line.” 

Jeff remained speechless, trying to contain the considerable feeling of anger and acerbity growing inside of him, but Britta apparently looked like she was not going to give him any rest until he actually said something to her. 

“Jeff, I know how hard it is to hear. Damn, it’s even hard for me to talk about this because I care about Emma so freaking much, she’s been here for me when I went to hell and back. But Jeff, you have to realize that this isn’t healthy. This isn’t normal. I’ve studied this type of behavior, I know very well what it actually means and how it eventually results for the person who bears the brunt of it. Jeff, as much as we love Emma, we can’t ignore all those red flags forever. We have to acknowledge that she is emotionally abus –” 

“Shut up. Please, shut up.” Jeff harshly interrupted Britta. 

Jeff noticed the look of despair Britta showed at this instant. But he did not even care anymore. The anger had taken over him already. 

“I’m sick and tired of you trying to ruin my relationship, Britta.” Jeff said through clenched teeth. “I’m sorry that things ended badly between you and Paige, but it doesn’t give you the right to try and screw other people’s relationships.” 

“Do you even hear yourself right now??” Britta revolted, tears shining in her eyes. “Oh my god, you don’t believe me, do you?” 

“I don’t know, okay??” Jeff yelled, feeling helpless. “And I’m not sure I want to believe you because I’m scared of the consequences it would have.” 

“Well, maybe you should try taking a step back and reflecting on it all.” Britta firmly said. “But let me just remind you this – I am your _friend_ , I’m not the enemy here. I’m only trying to help you and to open your eyes. And most of all, I would never lie about something like this because unlike what you seem to think, all I want is for my friends to be happy. And Jeff, with Emma, you’re the opposite of happy. You’re just completely oblivious to the truth.” 

After that, Britta left the room and left Jeff alone with his thoughts. As his lips were uncontrollably trembling and his throat was tight, Jeff realized everything he was doing wrong and what he needed to do about it. 

*** 

“So yeah, after that difficult talk with Britta, I talked with Emma. At first, she denied trying to kiss Britta but eventually she confessed the truth and that’s when I decided to break up with her.” Jeff ends his narrative. “Like Britta said, there were too many red flags there and it took me way too long to realize it.” 

“Jeff... I’m so sorry, this is... I didn’t realize...” Annie says hesitantly. 

Annie is at a loss for words. Of all the terrible things she imagined could have happened with Emma, she certainly never thought about anything like _this_. To think at some point, she even believed Jeff had cheated on her. When the truth was much more twisted and awful... 

“You understand now why both Britta and I were reluctant to talk about it all again?” Jeff asks Annie with a sad smile on his face. 

“Oh my god Jeff, I feel like such an idiot right now.” Annie whispers, slightly teary-eyed. “I’m so sorry for reacting the way I did at Halloween and insinuating all these bad things about you. I would’ve never thought it was this bad, honestly.” 

“You couldn’t have known.” Jeff shrugs. “It’s okay now, we’ve all moved on and truth be told, I’m definitely feeling much better since Emma moved out.” 

“I can only imagine. But Jeff, what you’ve been through is not okay. Nobody should experience that.” 

“Well, I don’t want to completely obliterate the good memories I share with her, because trust me when I say there are definitely a lot of them. And even though she hurt me a lot, I’m... trying to rely on those good memories only. And it’s helped me moving on and feeling better about myself.” 

Annie gives Jeff an empathetic smile, not knowing what else to add. She has been so wrong from beginning to end on that whole Emma situation, and knowing how Jeff, Britta and the others roommates were hurt because of that girl is almost unbearable for Annie. Because despite knowing them for a short amount of time, Annie cares about all of them so much. They are her friends, now. They are her _family_. 

“Well, is there, hmm... anything else you want to know?” Jeff eventually asks. 

“Uh, I guess... How were things between you and Britta after that talk you two had?” Annie wonders out loud, definitely curious. 

“Honestly? It wasn’t great for the couple of days that followed. But once I’ve decided to break up with Emma, things were looking on the bright side again. Emma started looking for another place to live and she left only a week later, which gave Britta and I the opportunity to talk again and if anything, I think this whole crappy situation even brought us closer.” 

“I’m so happy you two could stay friends.” Annie says with a soft smile. “The two of you are amazing people and you deserve the best.” 

“Yeah... Speaking of, how do you think that date of Britta’s is going on?” Jeff asks Annie in a gossipy tone. 

As if her ears have been burning, Annie suddenly hears the door being unlocked and she sees Britta coming in, soaking wet and shivering. 

“Hey, wh – what happened?” Annie asks her roommate, puzzled. 

“Troy, hmm, decided to have fun and dragged me into the pool with him.” Britta says with a weak smile on her face. “I’m going to go, uh, take a shower and get rid of this.” 

Britta gestures at her dress before laying her eyes on Jeff and raising an eyebrow. 

“Hey Jeff, what are you doing here?” Britta asks curiously. 

“Well, Annie and I left the party at the same time, so we were... chatting.” Jeff simply answers. 

Jeff shares an understanding look with Annie and as they start softly smiling to each other, Annie realizes that Jeff choosing to share his difficult story with her is definitely going to bring them even closer together than before, and it will certainly not help their case. 

“Don’t mind me, I’m just completely freezing to death right here.” Britta ironically points out when she notices the way Annie and Jeff look at each other. 

“Jeez Britta, go in the shower already or you’re going to catch a cold.” Jeff tells her before sighing desperately. 

Britta pretends to salute him like a soldier would do with their officer before running towards the bathroom. Annie lightly chuckles and immediately focuses back on Jeff. 

“Well, I guess that’s my cue to leave.” Jeff eventually says before standing up. 

“Yeah, it’s... It’s pretty late already.” Annie agrees, even though her heart aches at the thought of Jeff leaving. 

“I’m glad we had this talk, Annie.” Jeff tells her as he is walking towards the door. 

“Yeah... Me too.” Annie nods, following him. “Thank you for sharing this with me. I’m sure it wasn’t easy.” 

“Oddly enough, it was... okay.” Jeff admits. “I didn’t feel weird about opening up to you. It even felt... right.” 

Annie’s heart warms up in her chest because Jeff is right, everything feels so right when the two of them are together, to the point she does not want to question everything that is happening anymore. Does it mean she has reached the last stage out of the five Abed had told her about? 

_“_ _And eventually, there’s acceptance. Inevitably, you’ll truly embrace your feelings for him. Because that’s how any love story is supposed to happen.”_

Annie sighs at that thought. It seems like Abed was right all along, indeed. 

“Thank you for everything, Annie.” Jeff eventually adds. “Thank you for listening to me and being so understanding. I really appreciate it.” 

“Of course. Anytime, Jeff.” Annie ensures. 

Annie would have thought it would be the moment Jeff turns around, unlocks the door and leaves, but instead, he stays still, tirelessly looking at her. Annie swallows hardly, craving for his touch, even though she is trying to fight that feeling. 

Then, Jeff softly lifts her chin up with his thumb before slowly moving his face closer to hers. Annie’s heart starts pounding in her chest when she realizes what is about to happen. 

Jeff’s lips tenderly land on Annie’s and the both of them then kiss each other. Not like that time at Halloween, not like that kiss full of passion, heat and resentment. This time, the kiss is soft, heartfelt, sweet. Annie feels carried away during the few seconds that kiss lasts until, finally, their lips part again and she slowly opens her eyes to meet Jeff’s again. 

“Good night, Annie.” Jeff simply whispers before opening the door and walking out of the room. 

Breathless, Annie tries to regain her composure, softly brushing her lips with her fingers, as if it would allow her to feel Jeff’s lips again. She feels like she is walking on air as she goes back to her bed and lies down on it, sighing repeatedly as her kiss with Jeff plays over and over in her head. 

Eventually, Britta comes out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her. She loses the towel, quickly puts on a large shirt with some sweatpants and without even saying anything, she then comes and lies down next to Annie, sighing too. 

“Weird night, huh?” Britta tells Annie. 

“You don’t say.” Annie simply answers. 

“It kind of looked like you and Jeff were having a serious talk back there.” Britta points out. “Are you guys okay?” 

“Yeah. I think we are.” Annie asserts after a few seconds of silence. 

“Good.” 

“How was your date with Troy?” Annie eventually asks. 

There are a few seconds of silence before Britta inhales and speaks. And those few seconds are enough to make Annie understand that the date probably did not go as well as she would have thought. 

“I ran away, Annie.” Britta then says. 

“What do you mean?” Annie asks, frowning. 

“I don’t know, it’s like... I could feel like things were getting real there and it scared me, you know?” 

“I get it. It’s not easy to admit your true feelings. It’s terrifying, even.” 

“It really is...” 

Before Annie knows what to add to that, both she and Britta fall asleep next to each other, their thoughts wandering to their respective troubling evening. 


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the penultimate chapter!
> 
> Oof, it wasn't an easy one to wrap, mostly because it headed towards a completley different direction than the one I originally planned. Also because I wanted to set the ground for the epilogue, so loooots of things to think about.
> 
> I'm not sure I really like how it turned out but eh, I'm not my best jury so here it is anyway. Hopefully, you guys will like it!!
> 
> As usual, feedback, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated :) Thank you all for the ongoing support and encouragement, it really helps!

The day after Abed’s movie premiere, the City of Angels is drowning in the buckets of rain falling on its skyscrapers' roofs. Therefore, the group of friends decide it is probably best to stay in and rest in the morning, before having brunch at the hotel, and then, they will plan a museum tour that does not involve having to get soaking wet under the rain until they can finally catch their flight in the late afternoon. 

Annie and Britta decide they only want to hang out together in the morning, since Britta is not particular excited to confront Troy again after the way she left him alone at the pool the night before. As for Annie, she is still slightly shaken by Jeff’s revelations, therefore, both Annie and Britta silently agree they can use the quiet morning together without having to interact with anyone else. 

Comfortable in their bathrobes, eating junk food spread out on the bed in front of them, Britta and Annie are watching a cheesy romantic movie airing on the room’s television screen, as a way to relax and to be able to make fun of it a little, as if it would help them dedramatizing their respective current situation. 

“Ugh, I’m so sick of women constantly running after guys in the movies.” Britta rambles at some point under Annie’s amused eyes. “Is it too much to ask to have women who don’t need to end up with a man at the end of the movie to be happy and accomplished in their life, for once?” 

“I don’t know, I think it’s sweet.” Annie contradicts, shrugging a little. “And romantic.” 

“Annie, are we shitting on this romcom together or not?” Britta points out with a serious face. 

Annie starts laughing at Britta’s joke, which also makes Britta lighten up and chuckle lightly. 

“This is nice.” Britta eventually says. “We should have movie mornings more often.” 

“Yeah, I agree.” Annie says with a smile. “I’m always glad when we get to spend some time together.” 

“Yeah, who needs those boys anyways, am I right?” Britta exclaims. “Us girls are fine just the way we are.” 

Annie does not answer and shoves a chocolate candy in her mouth at once, savoring the flavor as she quietly watches the romantic lead of the movie trying to make amends with the other romantic lead he subconsciously hurt. 

Annie can’t help but think about how things are going to be with Jeff going forward. They practically admitted they both feel something towards each other, Annie now knows the whole story about Emma and how it truly affected Jeff. And most of all, Jeff kissed her goodnight when he left the night before. What does it mean for the both of them? Is it going to lead to something more? 

Eventually, Annie discreetly shakes her head, simultaneously sighing.

“What’s on your mind?” Britta eventually asks Annie while chewing on some Dorito chips. 

“Oh, uh... Nothing.” Annie bluntly answers, blushing a little. 

“Are you sure? We can talk about it, if you want.” Britta insists. 

“Hmm... No, actually, I’d rather not... if that’s okay.” Annie eventually admits with a sad smile. 

“Are you kidding? Of course it’s okay.” Britta ensures. “Besides, I feel like we talk about them boys way too much, it’s not very strong-independent-women like.” 

“Yeah you’re right, it’s - wait, how did you know it was about...?” 

Annie curiously looks at Britta, who has an eyebrow raised and a crooked smile on her face. Apparently, Britta figured out a lot more than Annie could have thought. 

Annie exhales a light laugh before grabbing another chocolate candy and continuing to watch the movie and criticize it with Britta, trying to get Jeff off her mind the whole time. 

*** 

When Britta and Annie meet Jeff, Troy and Abed for brunch, Annie can tell there has been a light mood switch in the group’s dynamic. Both for Jeff and Annie, but also for Britta and Troy. Annie notices the way Troy desperately tries to get Britta’s attention while she makes sure to limit her interactions with him to a bare minimum. It makes Annie slightly sad because she can tell how fond of one another those two are. But if Britta is not ready for an emotional involvement yet, they all have to respect it. Even though it seems to deeply pain Troy. 

As for her situation with Jeff, Annie does not really know what to think. After the painful story from his past Jeff has shared with her along with that sweet kiss only the night before, Annie would have thought things would be a little bit different between them. She would have thought they would now have a particular and special bond. However, from what she can see, it does not seem like Jeff is seeing eye-to-eye with her on the matter. Indeed, he almost looks somewhat distant with her. Annie is confused at that realization and wonders if, perhaps, Jeff regrets sharing his Emma story with her. 

Luckily for everyone, Abed helps putting the awkwardness of the situation aside by chatting nonstop about the way the movie premiere and the ceremony afterwards went. Therefore, the brunch goes by nicely until eventually, they all gather their personal belongings and leave the hotel. Putting their suitcases in the rented car they will return to the airport later on, before catching their flight, the group settles in the car and Jeff quickly drives away to get them to their location. 

Unfortunately, the drive does not go as smoothly as expected. 

“Holy shit, the rain is bad here.” Jeff points out as he has to keep his two hands on the steering wheel to control the car. 

“How far do we have to go?” Britta asks him, sitting in the passenger’s seat. 

“GPS says ten more minutes.” Abed chimes in from the backseat, looking at his phone’s screen. 

“Do you want me to drive, Jeff?” Britta suggests. 

“Pfft, what difference will it make?” Jeff scoffs in response. “Besides, I think we all want to make it out alive.” 

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Britta exclaims, visibly offended. 

“Guys, I don’t think now is a good time to fight.” Annie points out, sitting between Troy and Abed in the backseat. 

“Classic Jeff and Britta banter.” Abed plainly says. 

“Shut up everyone, I need to focus here!” Jeff yells, focusing as hard as he can on the road. 

“Jeff, it’s raining buckets right now, be reasonable and pull over for a few minutes!” Britta scolds him. 

“Is this it? Are we going to die?” Troy asks, sounding scared. 

“Okay, fine, I’ll pull over.” Jeff concedes in a displeased grunt. 

As soon as it is possible for him to do so, Jeff shifts directions and heads towards a gas station’s parking lot. He carefully parks the car and turns the engine off, leaving the only sound to the raindrops crashing endlessly on the roof of the car along with the windshields and the windows. 

“Great, now what?” Jeff complains, crossing his arms against his chest in a displeased manner. 

“Well, I think it’s wiser to wait for the rain to stop.” Britta answers, rolling her eyes at Jeff’s whiny tone. 

“Amazing idea, and what if it doesn’t stop? I don’t know about you but I’m not too eager on missing my flight, Weather Girl.” Jeff bites back. 

“I guess you can always drive us back to Denver since you seem to like it so much, Mister Pain-in-the-Ass.” Britta retorts harshly, visibly annoyed. 

“I feel like I’m in a flashback when I was in the car with my parents as a little boy.” Abed points out. “They used to argue a lot too. It’s odd. And a little disconcerting.” 

“Guys, let’s not digress here, it’s not going to help our situation.” Annie chimes in, feeling highly uncomfortable. 

“Fine, you guys sort it out while I’m going to go buy some snacks.” Jeff sighs while unfastening his seat belt. “Anyone want anything?” 

Jeff’s question is followed by an awkward silence that lasts for a few seconds until Troy shyly breaks it first. 

“I... It’d be dope if you could get me some Nacho cheese Doritos, man.” Troy says, uncertain. 

“Flamin’ Hot Cheetos for me, please.” Abed politely adds. 

“I wouldn’t mind some S’mores Pop-Tarts.” Britta mumbles, apparently still a little offended. 

Everyone then turns to Annie, obviously waiting for her to “order” as well. Suddenly feeling under the spotlight, Annie blushes and clears her throat. 

“I, hmm, just some sparkling water for me, please.” Annie softly says, a little ill-at-ease. 

“Ooh, can you get me some Mountain Dew too, Jeff?” Troy suddenly asks excitingly. 

“Okay I didn’t actually think you would all be ordering in, can someone text me all those requests so I don’t forget anything?” Jeff sighs. 

“Why, you’re afraid your advanced age is affecting your memory already, Grandpa?” Britta instantly taunts him. 

“Britta, I’m _this_ close to putting you in the trunk of the car with a duct tape on your mouth, don’t push it.” Jeff bites back immediately. 

Britta sticks her tongue out, although Jeff does not pick up on it, and then, he exits the car, quickly running to the entrance of the gas station in order to avoid getting too wet. Annie follows him with her eyes, a bit concerned by the angered energy passing through everyone at the moment. 

“Looks like everyone’s on edge today.” Abed remarks out loud. 

“What makes you say that?” Britta asks sarcastically. 

“Well, for starters, you and Jeff have been bickering since we left the ho –” 

“It was a rhetorical question, Abed.” Britta interrupts him sharply. 

“Don’t be so mean to Abed, Brit.” Troy let out. 

Annie desperately watches Britta turning around to look at Troy, sitting on Annie’s left, therefore, across Britta. The two of them look on edge, as Abed cleverly noticed earlier. 

“I wasn’t being... Ugh, nevermind.” Britta grumbles, turning back around at once. 

“It’s obviously the catalyst events that happened that make everyone act like this.” Abed keeps saying, oblivious to the tension he is adding. 

“There was no catalyst event Abed, it’s that stupid crappy weather that gets on everyone’s nerves.” Britta ensures, looking out the window at the same time. 

“Hmm. See, I’m not so sure.” Abed insists, which makes Britta loudly sigh. “I mean, of course, the rain certainly adds an even gloomier atmosphere to the one already in the air right now, but it’s not the only thing there is here. For example, we didn’t even all hang out together this morning, which means there are some tensions amongst some of our dynamics. I’m easily guessing which ones –” 

“Abed, sweetie,” Britta swiftly interrupts him, turning around and taking his hand in hers, “please, can we not do this right now? Please?” 

Abed looks taken aback by Britta’s behavior, looking alternatively at her hand in his and her face. Eventually, he pouts and clicks his tongue in his mouth before shrugging. 

“Thank you, honey.” Britta whispers with an empathetic smile before turning around again. 

A deafening silent settles in until Jeff finally comes back to the car. He struggles to open the door with all the sweet and salty snacks in his arms, therefore, Troy instantly gets out to help him out. 

“Thanks Troy.” Jeff lets out as the both of them get into the car again, a little wet. “Alright, take your poison guys.” 

“Should we give up on the idea of ever going to that museum?” Abed asks as he happily chews on his chips. 

“I mean...” Jeff sighs, looking outside. “Doesn’t seem like the rain is going to stop any time soon.” 

“I have a pretty accurate weather app on my phone, I’m going to check it out.” Annie then says while taking her phone out of her purse. 

“Annie, I love you but why didn’t you say so bef –” 

“Britta, cut us some slack.” Jeff abruptly interrupts her. 

Annie briefly lifts her eyes up to look at Jeff, who is looking expectantly at her. When their eyes meet, he gives her a light smile, which she replicates shyly. Afterwards, she focuses back on her phone screen and looks through the weather app to see what it says. 

“Hmm, it says the rain will stop in a little less than an hour.” Annie says happily. 

“Will that give us enough time to do that museum tour?” Britta asks to no one in particular. 

“I don’t think so.” Abed answers. “On the brochure, it said the tour lasts two hours minimum. If we start in an hour, assuming the rain does stop then, we will not leave in time for the airport.” 

“Great... So what do we do then?” Jeff asks in an exceeded sigh. 

Everyone glances at each other, in a mixture of desperation and awkwardness, none of them knowing what to answer to that question. 

“I mean... We have food, we have drinks...” Troy eventually lists out loud. “We can always... chill here.” 

“Here? In the car parked next to a gas station?” Jeff ironically asks. 

“Unless you feel like you can drive again, Superman.” Britta taunts him. 

As soon as Britta has said those words, a violent thunder noise echoes from outside, making everyone flinch, and more specifically, making Troy shriek in surprise. 

“Alright, hmm, I guess Troy’s idea of... chilling here is not so bad, after all.” Jeff concedes half-heartedly. 

“Shotgun!” Troy and Abed both exclaim at the same time, making them exchange goofy smiles. 

“Why would you call shotgun when we’re already sitting in the car, dummies??” Britta exclaims, exceeded. 

Annie sees Jeff laughing a little at Britta’s comment as she gives him a stink eye, while Troy and Abed try doing their classic handshake, even though Annie is sitting between them. What then seemed like only a tiny little hour feels like it is going to be a long hour instead. 

*** 

When Annie looks at the pink watch around her left wrist again, only twenty-three minutes have passed since they decided to stay in the car in order to wait for the rain to stop. She quietly sighs at that realization and looks up again to observe what is going on around her. 

Jeff is sitting crookedly on his seat, staring restlessly at his phone, not even bothering to pay attention to anything else. Britta has put some music on her phone and is simultaneously lip-syncing while dancing around on her seat. As for Abed and Troy, Annie has gladly suggested she could switch seats with Abed so the two guys could sit next to each other and she would not be literally in the middle of their shenanigans anymore. Therefore, the infernal duo is sitting next to each other, tirelessly playing Rock, Paper, Scissors. As for Annie, thankfully, she always carries a paperback book in her purse, therefore, she is trying to distract herself while reading her current book. 

Sadly, it is very difficult for her to focus properly with Abed and Troy yelling Rock, Paper, Scissors nonstop next to her and Britta singing awfully to _Wildest Dreams_ by Taylor Swift in front of her. 

“You know Britta, if you keep singing like that, the rain is never going to stop.” Jeff eventually points out without raising his eyes from his phone. 

“Bite me, Jeff.” Britta automatically retorts before resuming to her singing. 

“Abed, how do you always win at this game??” Troy suddenly yells, making Jeff flinch. “Like, are you a wizard or something?” 

“I’m not, I’m just accurately analyzing the odds.” Abed plainly answers. 

“Aren’t you guys tired of playing that game already?” Jeff asks them, frowning. 

“Well, if you have funnier games to do in mind, please, do share them, Sir Winger.” Troy declares in a pretend solemn tone, which makes Abed snort. 

“No thanks, I’m good.” Jeff simply says, focusing back on his phone again. 

“I think it’d be better if we all played a game together, though.” Abed points out, looking serious. “It’s the perfect occasion, after all. We’re in a classic bottle episode situation – thinking we would all reach a destination but a superior force keeps us from going there and we have to wait for an indefinite amount of time.” 

“Actually, we have thirty-five minutes left, to be precise.” Jeff carelessly says in the middle of Abed’s speech. 

“During that time, tension builds up and characters eventually let out some truths.” Abed keeps saying, as if Jeff did not even speak. “I don’t really like bottle episodes. In fact, I avoid them when I can. But I guess we might as well make the most out of it. So I suggest we play truth or dare.” 

Both Britta and Jeff grunt in response to Abed’s suggestion, while Troy obviously looks like he will enable Abed, no matter what. 

“Abed, look, I’m sure we all appreciate the enthusiasm but I’m also sure we’re all pretty tired from this weekend.” Annie softly tells her roommate and friend. “And the situation right now is a little bit stressful too so maybe we shouldn’t pile up on that.” 

“Come on guys, even if it’s not truth or dare, there are plenty of other games we can play together, and at least, it’ll make time go by faster.” Troy points out, slightly whining. 

“That’s very much true Troy, but I insist on the fact truth or dare is the most fitted game as of now.” Abed adds, apparently persistent. 

“And why is that?” Jeff negligently asks, still staring at his phone screen. 

“I thought it was pretty obvious.” Abed answers, frowning. “Bottle episodes are made to –” 

“Yeah, we got what a bottle episode is.” Jeff interrupts him, which seems to unnerve Abed. “And fine, if it makes Britta’s audition tape for _American Idol_ stop, then why not?” 

“Hey!” Britta interjects, scowling at Jeff. 

“Yeah!” Troy exclaims, grinning from ear to ear. “Alright, so, who goes first?” 

“Usually, it’s the youngest person.” Abed answers. ”So that would be Annie.” 

Upon hearing her name, Annie finally lifts her eyes up from her book and realizes the four people stuck in the car with her are expectantly staring at her. 

“Hmm... I think I’m going to pass, I’m... in the middle of a chapter.” Annie hesitantly responds, waving her book in front of her face. 

“Oh come on, that’s what bookmarks are for.” Britta teases her. “Play with us please, don’t leave me alone with these dorky idiots.” 

“Am I seriously included in the dorky idiots?” Jeff protests, finally putting his phone away. 

“You’re number one on the list, even.” Britta retorts harshly. 

“Fine.” Annie suddenly exclaims, loudly closing her book at once. “My first request is for Britta – truth or dare?” 

“Uh, dare, I guess.” Britta replies as quick as a flash, frowning. 

“Great. Your dare is to stop bickering with Jeff, because it’s getting annoying.” Annie says in an even tone. 

Britta widens her eyes and looks genuinely surprised by Annie’s remark. An uneasy silence settles in the car for a few seconds until Britta breaks it. 

“Gotcha.” Britta simply says, frowning at Annie. 

“If we’re going clockwise, it means it’s my turn now.” Abed instantly says. “Britta, truth or dare?” 

“A - again? Seriously, is it going to be like that during the whole game?” Britta rants, sounding slightly offended. “Alright, I guess this time, it’s only fair I pick truth.” 

“Playing safe, I see.” Jeff teases Britta, which makes her roll her eyes. 

“Hey, the no-bickering rule applies to you too, Jeff.” Annie scolds him gently. 

“What? When was that even implied??” Jeff exclaims in a pretend offended tone. 

Annie rolls her eyes before laying them on Jeff again. When their eyes meet, she seems him smiling at her, as he already has a few times this day. It is like he is trying to remain at a certain distance, but at the same time, cannot help trying to engage with her. 

Annie hesitantly smiles back and then looks away, slightly destabilized by Jeff’s intense gaze. She can definitely feel like things are different now, even though she cannot quite put her finger on it. It is neither unpleasant nor mind-blowing. It is simply... reassuring. Somehow. 

“Truth, then.” Abed then says, looking reflective. “Why did you stand Troy up on your date last night?” 

An echo of indignant gasps and outcries resonate in the car at Abed’s question while yet another lightning streaks in the sky. 

“Abed!” Troy exclaims in a high-pitched voice. “When I said I wanted Britta to tell me what happened, that’s _not_ what I meant!” He adds in a semi-whisper. 

“Wait, you stood Troy up?” Jeff asks Britta, who looks mortified. “Wow, that’s - yeah, sorry, no bickering.” Jeff interrupts himself when he intercepts Annie’s stink eye. 

“I did _not_ stand him up!” Britta ensures, crossing her arms against her chest. “... per say.” She then adds in a shy voice. 

“Well... You _did_ leave out of nowhere in the middle of it, I’d say it’s like half of a stand up.” Troy points out, sounding a little upset. 

“Are you really sure you want to talk about this now, Troy?” Britta asks between gritted teeth. 

“I mean... Sure, why not?” Troy answers with an ounce of irony. “When are we going to talk about it, if not now? It’s not like every time I’m trying to talk about serious stuff or feelings, you completely shut down and run away... Oh wait, never mind, yeah, that’s exactly what you’re doing. And that’s exactly what you did last night too.” 

Britta looks like her breath has been taken away and she does not know what to say. Annie notices the way her cheeks turn into a light shade of red and how she starts nervously biting her thumb’s nail. Annie is starting to know Britta quite well, and what her friend slash roommate is doing right now is evidently an indication of her extreme nervousness. 

“Sometimes, I feel like I’m just a toy for you to have sex with.” Troy keeps saying with a deadpan exterior. “Like, a regular toy, but a toy you’re having sex with. Oh, I got a name for that. A sex-toy! That’s it, I’m a sex-toy” 

“Okay, sounds like this truth or dare game has turned into a private conversation we’re not supposed to participate in.” Jeff points out, wincing a little at Troy’s rambling. 

“If Britta doesn’t want to answer the truth question, she can either switch to a dare or pay a forfeit.” Abed says. 

“Yeah, it’s not like she’s going to say anything about how she feels anyway.” Troy grumbles, sinking into his seat with his arms crossed against his chest. 

If Britta has been looking unnerved and shameful up until this moment, Troy’s latest remark seems to break the spell and bring her back to her usual self. Annie sees how feisty Britta now looks and she can only wonder what is going to happen next. 

“You know what, Abed?” Britta says with a deadpan exterior. “I’m going to answer that truth question. Gladly, even.” 

Britta’s comment makes Troy lift his eyes up to meet hers, and for a brief moment, it looks like the two of them are having a deep unspoken connection and it almost disrupts Annie. 

“The reason why I... _left_ before the date ended yesterday...” Britta starts saying before taking a deep breath, “was because I got... scared. Yeah. I got scared because of what was going on, because of what Troy was feeling, because of what _I_ was feeling. So I did what I usually do when things scare me – I ran away.” 

Troy looks unsettled by Britta’s confession, to the point his mouth slightly pops open under the shock. He looks restlessly at her, whereas Britta is already looking away. 

“Okay, no forfeit for Britta then.” Abed simply says while everybody else is simply quiet. ”Troy, it’s your turn.” 

Troy remains static for a few seconds until he smoothly shakes his head and seems to regain some composure. 

“Uh, okay, so.” Troy mumbles before clearing his throat. “Uh, Abed, truth or dare?” 

“Hmm... Truth.” Abed answers after a second of reflection. 

“Alright, if you had to choose between being invisible and having superspeed, which one would you prefer?” 

“That’s not really a truth question, is it?” Jeff points out, frowning inquisitively. 

“Superspeed, obviously.” Abed instantly replies, ignoring Jeff’s comment. 

“I knew it!” Troy whispers excitingly. 

“Jeff, you’re up.” Abed tells Jeff. 

“Uh.... Okay, yeah.” Jeff rambles, straightening in his seat. “Well, since I’m no longer allowed to bicker with Britta...” He starts saying before winking at Annie, who rolls her eyes with a smile on her face. “Troy, truth or dare?” 

“Dare, obviously.” Troy responds tit for tat. 

“Alright, uh, I dare you to... spend the whole evening with Britta tonight when we come back home.” 

“JEFF!” Troy, Britta and Annie all yell at the same time. 

“What? You two obviously have some unresolved issues you need to deal with and it’s not going to be productive if we’re in the middle of it.” Jeff carelessly explains, shrugging it away. “I’m sorry but I’m not going through that awkward moment when Troy was explaining what a sex-toy is again.” 

“It’s none of your business Jeff, stop meddling.” Britta says between clenched teeth. 

“Since you’ve been in a foul mood all day, it has very much so become my business, Britta.” Jeff retorts plainly. 

“But -” 

“I accept.” 

When Troy interrupts Britta to say those two little words, everyone focuses on him. Britta, mostly, seems to having calmed down at once and Annie can even see some sparkle and softness in her eyes, something she does not think she has ever seen in Britta’s eyes, except for the few times she was talking about... Paige. 

“I accept the dare.” Troy reiterates, as if he hasn’t been clear enough. “I’ll... gladly spend the evening with Britta tonight. If... she’s okay with it, of course.” Troy then adds swiftly, looking over Britta. 

“Hmm... Y – yeah. Sure.” Britta confirms, nodding. 

“Splendid.” Jeff exclaims, clapping his hands once. 

Afterwards, neither Britta nor Troy add anything else, because the way they are looking at each other in this instant is worth a thousand unspoken words. 

“Your turn, Britta.” Abed then says. 

“Ugh fine, let’s get this over with.” Britta says sharply, apparently back to earth. “Jeff, truth or dare?” 

“You really think I’m going to fall for it?” Jeff scoffs. “Truth.” 

“Oh but you _did_ fall for it though, because I was counting on you to pick that.” Britta smirks while Jeff’s confidence quickly fades away. “So, Jeffrey Wingerrrr...” 

Annie can feel Jeff’s apprehension while Britta feigns thinking about a question, her thumb rubbing against her chin. Annie looks curiously and dreadfully at Britta, wondering what her friend has in mind. She may be in a foul mood, as Jeff put it, but is it a reason to expose an embarrassing truth her roommate and friend might have? 

“Tell us the truth, Jeff...” Britta eventually says, holding everyone in suspense. “Is this your real hair or are you wearing implants?” 

A surprised silence follows Britta’s question, as the rest of them are apparently unsure about whether Britta is being serious or not. Even Jeff seems a little caught off guard, as if he has been expecting an entirely different question. 

Then, after a few seconds, Britta sketches the shadow of a smile and starts cackling gently, which makes Jeff sigh and softly shove her. 

“You’re a pain in the ass, Perry.” Jeff tells her, smiling lightly. 

“Hey, what did you think I was going to ask you? I’m not a jerk.” Britta points out with a cocky smile, seemingly proud of herself. 

“Never said you were a jerk but you sure can be a brat sometimes.” Jeff contradicts in a teasing tone. 

“So Jeff, what’s the answer?” Abed chimes in, visibly curious. “Don’t try dodging the question.” 

Abed’s remark makes everyone heartily laugh, which seems to confuse him at first, but eventually, he joins in the laughter. As the laughter fades away, Annie’s eyes lay on Jeff again, and at that moment, she sees him mouthing a “thank you” to Britta. Curious, Annie then lay her eyes on Britta, who simply winks at him. Shortly after, as Troy and Abed keep on joking around and betting on Jeff’s possible hair implants, Jeff takes Britta’s hand in his and squeezes it gently. After the story he has shared with her the night before, Annie can now assert the whole Emma situation has brought Jeff and Britta closer, even though they still bicker and tease each other at times. 

Annie smiles at that realization and her heart warms up, understanding that no matter how much Emma has hurt them and subtly tried to divide them in the past, the group’s bond only grew stronger and better than ever. 

When Annie’s daydreaming stops and she looks out the window, she can see the rain has stopped and there is a break in the clouds. 

“Well, I guess it’s our cue to leave.” Jeff says when he notices it too. 

“Finally! “Britta exclaims, fastening her seat belt again. 

“Now, look who’s eager to go back home?” Jeff teases her. 

Once everybody has fastened their seat belts, Jeff instantly starts the engine again, backtracks and drives away from the gas station and on the way to the airport. Annie notices Jeff looking at her from time to time in the driving mirror, and sometimes, she meets his eyes and smiles at him. 

They have not shared a lot of words today but this feeling she has of incoming changes sticks to her skin all the way to Denver. 

*** 

That evening, everyone is exhausted from the weekend they just had. A lot has happened, for each and every one of them, even though it is probably on a different scale depending on who is concerned. 

The first thing Abed does when they arrive at the apartment is go straight to his room and unpack. As for Jeff, Troy, Britta and Annie, they all stand in the living-room, visibly ill-at-ease and not knowing what to do. 

“Hmm... Maybe I should... go home now, I’m not living here, after all.” Troy eventually points out, hands in his pockets, shrugging. 

“Oh.” Britta lets out. “I thought... We can spend the evening together, you know.” 

“It’s okay Brit, the game is over, don’t feel like you need to do what Jeff said.” Troy says in a sad voice. 

“I know, but... I actually _want_ you to stay this evening.” Britta confesses shyly. “If that’s okay with you.” 

Troy seems confused for a second but quickly enough, he puts on a smile and follows Britta to her room. 

Annie is thus left alone with Jeff, and there are a million things she wishes she could say to him, but instead, she takes the easy way out and simply says: 

“I’m... going to go unpack.” 

Jeff obviously expected her to say something else too, as he stares at her afterwards, looking oddly disappointed. 

“Hmm... Okay, sure.” Jeff says. 

Annie smiles and nods before turning around and going to her room. But suddenly, she stops herself and turns her head to look at Jeff, who has not moved an inch and seems lost in thoughts. 

“Actually...” Annie starts saying, making Jeff look at her instantly. “Maybe there are a few... things we should talk about, too.” 

“I... actually agree.” Jeff confirms. 

On that note, both Jeff and Annie walk towards her bedroom. 

*** 

“So... What you’re saying is... You think you have feelings for me but you’re not ready to be in an actual relationship yet?” 

“I... think that’s what I’m clumsily trying to say, yes.” 

Troy looks away and exhales sharply, visibly at a loss for words. Britta purses her lips. She had not been that nervous in a while and she hates it. She wishes she could not care about Troy’s feelings at all, but it actually is the opposite and it makes her mad at herself. 

“Okay, well... Where does that leave us?” Troy eventually asks. 

“I don’t know Troy, I... I’m not sure it’s a good idea for us to keep being casual and hooking up from time to time if the both of us are really feeling these things.” Britta tells him in all honesty. 

“But that’s just the thing, Brit. I don’t want to stop hanging out with you. I like you. I mean, I... _like you_ like you. You know?” 

Britta nods slowly, her throat tightened. She moistens her lips, avoiding Troy’s gaze, because the sincerity and the affection she can see in his eyes scare her more than she can handle. 

“I _like you_ like you too, Troy Barnes.” Britta then admits with a sad smile. 

“Well, we both _like each other_ like each other then.” Troy sums up. 

Britta chuckles at Troy’s comment, and she knows he can’t help but smile when he makes her laugh, and really, how can she not have feelings for him when she knows such things about him? 

“Look, it would be selfish of me to ask you to wait for me to get my shit together.” Britta then adds seriously. “Because Troy, it’s been, like, six months since Paige broke up with me and I feel like I’m still not over it. I feel like I need more time to... be by myself. You understand what I mean?” 

“Yeah... I think I do.” Troy says, pouting disappointingly. 

“I’m sorry.” Britta whispers, taking Troy’s hand in hers. 

“Hey, don’t be sorry.” Troy tells her as he intertwines her fingers to hers. “Take all the time you need.” 

Afterwards, Troy gets up and gently kisses Britta’s forehead as she closes her eyes to hold back the tears of frustration she can feel going up in her. Then, he heads towards the door and before opening it, he turns around and smiles at Britta. 

“Just know that I’ll still be around, anyway.” Troy points out. “You know where to find me.” 

Britta lifts her eyes up to meet his and feels a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth at Troy’s remark as he leaves the room and closes the door after him. 

*** 

“Wait a minute... You’ve been feeling the five stages of _grief_ towards me?” 

“I know, when you put it like that, it sounds gloomy and weird, but that’s actually the best way to explain it.” 

Jeff chuckles a little at Annie’s response, which makes her nervously smile as well. The two of them are still talking in her bedroom, standing in front of one another, debating on how they actually feel towards each other. And for someone who usually has a lot of love to give, Annie has an unpleasantly hard time expressing it to Jeff in that moment. 

“It’s how Abed explained it to me.” Annie adds. “First, there’s denial, then anger, then bargaining, then sadness and finally, acceptance.” 

“Yeah, I know what the five stages of grief are.” Jeff simply says. “But what does that have to do with me? I mean, I’m not... you know... I’m not _dead_.” 

“Well... What I’m trying to say in a very weird way is that I’ve been pushing the... _things_ I’m feeling for you away, as long as I could but... It ended up being harder than I thought.” 

“So... if I got this right, that means now, you’re in the... acceptance stage?” 

“I, uh, I think so, yeah.” 

Jeff scrapes the back of his neck at Annie’s confession as she nervously waits for him to say something back. She feels stupid because she knows he is feeling the same way about her. He has told her so, a couple of times already. Then, why is she dreading what is coming next this much? Why is she _scared_? 

“So, to sum up, we... both have... _things_ we’re feeling towards each other.” Jeff eventually says hesitantly. 

Annie nods, uncertain of what she should say. Jeff seems unsure too and she has no idea where all of this is going to lead, except to even more uncertainty and doubt, from the way the both of them are reacting. 

“But... the roommates golden rule.” Jeff adds sadly. 

“I know.” Annie sighs. “I know, and I know it would be stupid for us to start doing... anything while we live in the same apartment.” 

“Yeah, no, definitely, you’re right.” 

“So.... Where does that leave us? Now that we both know how we truly feel about each other.” 

Annie bites the inside of her cheek, anticipating what Jeff is going to say. As she tries to ignore the butterflies in her stomach and the sound of her heart beating faster than usual, Annie sees Jeff stepping closer to her until there are only a few inches separating them. Then, after gently brushing her hair with his fingertips, Jeff says a few simple words that will make all the difference. 

“I guess you’re right. It wouldn’t be a good idea to start dating while _the both of us_ live in the loft.” 

Annie lifts her eyes up and stares at him intently, understanding very well the implied meaning of Jeff’s sentence. He smiles yet another time before walking away. 

When Jeff leaves, Annie falls into her bed and exhales slowly to calm her beating heart. 

She understood what Jeff meant by that and for the first time in a long time, she is hopeful. 

For the first time in a long time, since she has moved into the loft, Annie Edison has met amazing people that became her friends. For the first time in a long time, Annie feels like she belongs. Annie has a job she likes, Annie is surrounded by people who care about her and want what’s best for her. 

And for the first time in a long time, Annie is hopeful things will eventually be okay and that she will end up where she is supposed to, with whom she is supposed to be. 


	16. Epilogue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it... The final chapter!!
> 
> I know I could've written other chapters to that story because the content that story provided was very rich but I felt like it was time for this story to come to an end. I've had a tremendous time writing it and sharing it with you all. Getting your feedbacks and your support on it was an incredible experience, as always, and I could never thank you enough for all the love you brought to this story, because it is what made it alive.
> 
> I hope you will like this last chapter and I can't wait to have your feedback on it. As usual, comments and kudos are so very much appreciated.
> 
> Thank you for everything and enjoy your reading <3

**Four months later.**

Abed looks at himself one last time in the mirror before smiling with content and quietly sighing. 

It always feels a little weird when it is his birthday. He usually likes it because the main plot revolves around him and birthday plotlines always provide great content and fun shenanigans for the audience. Nonetheless, being the main character equals having a lot of pressure and responsibility on one’s shoulders. And Abed wants to fulfil that role efficiently. 

Abed is still getting used to all the new changes in Apartment 303. For him, it usually is a little tricky to adapt, especially when these changes happen quickly, without having had time to mentally prepare for them. And over the past year, a lot of changes sure have occurred in his life. But he thinks he is starting to accommodate now. It does not feel upsetting or unsettling anymore. 

Abed gets back to reality when he hears a knock on his bedroom door. He turns his head to face his imminent interlocutor, who is no one other than Troy. 

“You ready, man? It’s almost noon.” Troy asks him. 

“Be there in a sec.” Abed simply answers. 

Troy nods, understanding that Abed probably needs a little bit more time to himself before joining the crowd and interacting with other people. Once the door is closed again, Abed stands confidently in front of the mirror and points finger guns at his reflection, with one of his eyes closed. 

“This is going to be nice.” Abed says to himself before adjusting the bow tie around his shirt collar. 

*** 

As he usually does, Abed carefully observes every new person arriving at the loft and greeting the people already present. He pays attention to the way his friends’ faces light up and the way their smiles widen depending on who just entered the room. 

When Ian Duncan arrives, his eyes instantly lay on Britta first and his lips stretch into what resembles a smile the most. As for Britta, her smile is closer to a grimace, but Abed can tell that at least, she is trying to put in some effort. 

When it is Ben Chang’s turn to arrive, everyone looks incredulous to see him there. Ian quickly remembers he is the one who mentioned the birthday party at work to Chang and may have invited him after day drinking. Chang shrugs at that revelation and simply sits down, as if he is used to this kind of things. 

When Shirley Bennett makes her arrival, the smiles on the hosts’ faces are a little bit more genuine. As her usual self, Shirley is like a ray of sunshine who just illuminated the entire room with her presence, her smile and her softness. 

Shortly after, Pierce Hawthorne briefly makes an entrance as well. The winces on the faces of every single person in the room upon seeing Piece are, without a doubt, unequalled with anything Abed has seen so far. 

“What’s with the long faces?” Pierce snorts upon noticing the way everybody is looking at him. 

“We... didn’t actually think you’d show up, that’s all.” Britta makes up on the spot. 

“Come on, I wouldn’t have missed Ay-bed’s birthday, who do you think I am?” Pierce says. 

“I think it’s best no one answers that question.” Shirley whispers in a raspy voice. 

“Hello there, Miss Bennett, looking radiant, as always.” Pierce tells Shirley as he sits down next to her. 

“Good afternoon Pierce.” Shirley soberly answers, holding on to her bag resting on her lap as if she is about to storm off any second. 

“So, which one of you lovely fellas cooked us a fine meal today?” Ian asks gleefully. 

“Matthew, actually. I think so, at least.” Britta answers, looking curiously at the door. 

“He should be here any minute dear, don’t worry, he’s just adjusting a few things before.” Shirley says with a comforting smile. “He’s what you can call a perfectionist.” She adds in a giggle. 

“Is it going to take all afternoon or what? I’m starving.” Chang points out haughtily. 

“If you’re not happy, you can always go downstairs and dig through the trash with the raccoons.” Britta retorts. 

“There are raccoons in the building??” Pierce exclaims, visibly shocked. “Why am I only hearing of this now?” 

“We’ve told you like ten times already but you keep forgetting about it.” Britta answers immediately while rolling her eyes. 

“Either way, we are still missing some people, aren’t we?” Shirley points out, visibly annoyed by comments coming from all sides. 

“What’s taking them so long anyway?” Troy exclaims. 

“I might have an answer to that question but I think it’s best if I keep it to myself.” Britta retorts with an amused smirk. 

“As long as it’s not in the building’s elevator...” Shirley says in a raspy voice. 

*** 

When Annie hears the distinct sound of the elevator being called to another floor, she abruptly interrupts the passionate kiss she is sharing with her boyfriend in order to catch her breath and prepare for the possibility of someone sharing the elevator with them. 

“Damn it, I almost wish the elevator could be out of service, for once.” Annie’s boyfriend grumbles. 

“I told you it would’ve been better to press the stop button.” Annie points out while fixing her messy hair. 

“I know, and I told you there was no fun in doing that.” 

Annie rolls her eyes at that response, even though she cannot help smiling lightly. She would have never thought when she moved into the loft all these months ago that she would end up having a hot make-out session in that infamous elevator. And yet, here she was, flattening her skirt and trying to hide her blushing cheeks behind some locks of hair. 

“Everybody’s going to know.” Annie points out before clearing her throat. 

“How would they know?” He retorts with an amused grin. 

“Well, for starters, we’re late.” Annie responds in an annoyed tone. 

“Annie, you’re allowed to be late for once in your life, nobody’s going to hate you for that.” 

“And second of all, need I remind you there’s a very perceptive therapist and an observing human being in that apartment?” Annie keeps saying, ignoring the latest remark. 

“Guess we’ll just have to keep it on the down low, then.” He shrugs. 

“Yeah right, like they won’t notice.” Annie scoffs. “Ugh, I can’t believe we’re going to be late for Abed’s birthday. We’re the worst friends ever!” 

“Hey, it’s okay honey, he won’t be mad at us. Besides, I doubt we’ll be the last ones arriving at the party.” 

*** 

Abed briefly observes Matthew, who just arrived in the loft, as he puts all of the food he just cooked on the table. Quickly enough, Abed’s attention is drawn to the front door. Only a few seconds later, he hears three loud knocks against it. His lips slowly stretch into a thin smile, since he knows perfectly well the last guests are finally here. 

“COME IN!!” Britta yells. 

“Wow, maybe take that down a notch next time??” Chang protests, covering his ears with a discontent look on his face. 

The front door promptly opens and two familiar faces are now a part of the scenery, allowing the action to settle in and the last movie scene to properly begin. 

“Look who’s here!” Britta exclaims ironically. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Edison and Sir Jeff have finally graced us with their delightful presence!” Ian proclaims in a pretend solemn tone. 

When Abed notices the way Annie and Jeff smile awkwardly at Ian’s announcement and the way Jeff puts his arm behind Annie’s back before locking eyes with her, he instantly understands that they are sharing a secret while also trying to hide it from their friends. Unsuccessfully, so it seems. Just like at the very beginning of this story, the two of them are ridiculously predictable. 

“What took you so long??” Troy genuinely asks. 

“They were making out in the elevator.” Abed bluntly announces. 

The reactions around Abed are immediate – and as loud and chaotic as he could have expected. 

“What in God’s name is so appealing about that elevator??” Shirley exclaims, visibly slightly appalled. 

“I’m starting to think there’s a kink there, Jeff.” Britta teases him, very obviously trying not to burst out laughing. 

“Oh come on, as if none of you has ever done something like that in an elevator.” Jeff points out. 

“Wow so you’re not even trying to deny it?” Britta exclaims, visibly surprised. 

“You could’ve at least been a gentleman and pretend otherwise for your lady, Jeffrey.” Ian tells Jeff while pointing a finger towards Annie. 

“Tssk, horny weirdos.” Chang mumbles. 

“Okay, I feel like I’ve been asking that question way too many times but why is Chang here?” Jeff asks in a confused tone. 

“Well, to answer your question Jeffrey, for me it wasn’t in an elevator but I once encountered Eartha Kitt in the airplane’s bathroom and let me tell you that –” 

“Ugh Pierce, please, never finish that story!” Britta interrupts him while the others make disgusted noises. 

As most of the guests keep on bickering and joking with each other, the way any good rom-com would end, Abed focuses on his friend and roommate Annie. 

Abed has been fascinated by Annie from the day they met. He could tell right away that she was a genuinely kind and radiant person. But he could also tell that kindness and that radiance were hidden behind a heavy dark veil, a veil that stuck to her skin and that she was having a hard time getting rid of. 

Throughout the months she has spent with them, Abed noticed that the veil slowly faded away. But most of all, he noticed that this veil was completely lifted whenever Annie was with Jeff. Abed could tell that Jeff was the Harry to Annie’s Sally. The Noah to the Allie. The Joel to the Clementine. The Jack to the Rose. 

Abed can quote a lot more famous pairings from romantic movies to prove his point but he knows he does not even need to justify his point of view because it is too obvious for him to be wrong about it. 

It is a very famous trope, after all. The thrilling, the exciting, the breathtaking “oh no! They were roommates”. As cliché and predictable as it may be. But as Abed often repeats to his coworkers, why would that necessarily have to be a bad thing? Cliché and predictable are good too. They are comforting. They are an anchor point for the viewers, who know what they are getting into. There is nothing wrong or boring about predictable. If anything, it is reassuring. It means that everything eventually makes sense. 

And right here, right now, on his birthday, surrounded by his friends, Abed can assert without a doubt that it all makes sense. Nothing has ever made so much sense than in this instant. Especially when he sees how happy and peaceful Annie and Jeff are together. 

“So Annie, are you ever going to come back with us?” Britta asks as Annie sits down next to her. “Not to make it about me but I miss you, girl.” 

“Aww I miss you too, Britta.” Annie softly says while Britta gently nudges her shoulder with a smile. “I’ll spend the following week here, promise.” 

“Awesome, I can’t wait for more of our girls’ nights!” Britta exclaims happily. 

“Not too embarrassed of stealing my girlfriend away right under my nose, Britta?” Jeff chimes in sarcastically, sitting down next to Troy and in front of the girls. 

“Hey, if there’s anyone stealing Annie away, it’s you Jeff!” Britta retorts, which makes both Annie and Jeff chuckle. “We barely see her anymore, which doesn’t even make sense because you’re the one who moved out of the loft, not Annie.” 

“Well, excuse me if we want to spend some alone time together at my place.” Jeff says in a pretend dramatic tone. 

“You can still spend some alone time here!” Britta points out. 

“Come on, you know it’s not the same!” Jeff protests. 

“Okay, stop it guys, let’s compromise here.” Annie chimes in seriously, even though her smile does not fade away. “I’ll be here next week and Jeff will spend some time with us too. Right, Jeff?” 

“I guess I don’t have that much of a choice, do I?” Jeff responds. 

“Oh come on, you make it sound like torture, don’t you miss our company?” Britta asks him ironically. 

“Every single minute, Britta.” 

Britta throws a napkin at Jeff to express her discontent regarding his joke, which makes him laugh even harder. The banters continue but instead of participating, Abed keeps paying attention to everyone around him. 

This time, he focuses on his best friend Troy. Abed has never felt closer to anyone as much as he feels to Troy. Apart from his dad, Abed would probably declare Troy to be the most important person in his life. The both of them have shared so many things together over the past few years, especially during their college times. Abed wants nothing more than for Troy to be happy. 

Abed thus sees the way Troy keeps looking at Britta when he thinks she is not looking. And Abed also notices Britta does the exact same thing with him. Even though these two are obviously not the main pairing of their show, it is still predictable for them to end up together. It has not happened yet because it is not their time to shine. Not quite. But it soon will be. Abed has no doubt about that. Because they both have so much fondness and hope in their eyes when they look at each other. Once again, it could not be more predictable. But heartwarming and comforting nonetheless. 

By the time his birthday cake is in front of him and everyone is singing “happy birthday” around him, Abed feels ecstatic and delighted. Changes can be scary, he will still feel the same way about that. But this time, Abed is confident that things will turn out for the best. Abed is confident that he has ended up where he belongs, with the right people to accompany him in this journey. 

Abed sees Shirley and her husband Matthew looking softly at him, in each other’s arms. Abed sees Chang, Pierce and Ian genuinely laughing together after one of Ian’s jokes. Abed sees Troy all excited for Abed to blow out his birthday candles. Abed sees Britta lighting the candles with a huge smile on her face. And finally, Abed sees Annie and Jeff next to one another, hand in hand and in complete bliss. 

After one last glance filled with pride at Jeff and Annie softly kissing each other and whispering three quiet little words to one another, Abed closes his eyes, makes a wish and blows out his birthday candles. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is obviously not the end-end because I have other projects in mind :eyesemoji:
> 
> To begin with, I have a WIP to finish... So see you very very soon, readers!
> 
> Again, thank you for everything <3


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